Past Happenings
by Kathryn Hart
Summary: Hazardous trips through time, Old foes creating havoc, lovers reunited, friends resolved differences, changes in the universe, time shattering tremors...This is "Past Happenings". NOW COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

**Finally, my first episode-like multi chapter story! I actually started writing this last November and completed it this January. That's right, this whole story is finished, typed and waiting on my computer, so there will be a 100% chance of continual updates until completion! XD I prefer it that way. This story will have a blend of action, romance, angst, creature attacks, evil villians, and some familiar friends! Takes place in Series 4(after Connor, Abby and Danny make it back safely, but I didn't bother with writing that part, your own stories or imaginations can work that out :) I didn't realize how short I wrote the chapters until they were already written up, so I'll make up for it by updating more! Main characters are Danny, Connor, Abby, Sarah, Becker and Lester with Connor and Abby being the main two, but as the story progresses, the two main characters will change.(Abby and Connor will still be there, they just won't be the center of attention :) I am American, so I'm sorry I can't write like the British! O.o I wrote this story with one goal in mind for the new series, which will become clear towards the end. So I don't want any reviews or flames saying how cheesy this is or how improbable it is for all this stuff to happen, because, frankly, _I don't care, it's my fanfic! "_Because everybody deserves a happy ending!!" Here we go, hope you enjoy!**

Primeval: Past Happenings

by Kathryn Hart

Prologue

Connor had been staring at the Anomaly Detector Device, or ADD, for three hours. He sighed wearily and grabbed his laptop to finish his study. If his guesses were right...he shuddered at the thought. The computer screen lit up as he punched on the keyboard. Up popped his information on the rise of natural disasters.

He stared into space, thinking. Lately everything seemed to be heading towards a disaster. Especially since he, Abby, and Danny had made it back safely from the Cretaceous Period, after stopping Helen in her plot to destroy humanity. He and Abby had another fight last night. Connor wasn't sure what was really behind the disagreements they'd been having lately.

He heard Sarah Page and Captain Becker entering the building. Their loud voices carried from across the ARC. He heard Sarah's high-pitched voice as Becker roughly slammed open the doors to the main ADD room, where Connor was sitting.

"You're always so...so stubborn!" Connor waited for Becker's deep voice reply.

"Me? Stubborn? You should talk!" Sarah had followed Becker inside.

"I'm not the stubborn one, you won't even tell me your first name!!" They were now glaring at each other face to face. Becker leaned in closer to Sarah's.

"It's none of your business what my first name is!"

"How can you say that? Yes it is, _Alex!"_ Becker cringed at the sound of his middle name. He was just coming up with a blaring retort when Abby came in behind them and shouted

"Stop bickering you two!" Connor couldn't help but laugh to himself.

"Beckering." He chuckled, until he saw that Abby was coming towards him. "Look, Abby, about last night. . ."

"Forget about it." One thing Connor loved about Abby was that she got over her anger so quickly. But lately all of them were getting more and more on edge. Even Danny, who always had a way to cheer anybody up with his quick remarks, was more moody than usual. Someone on the outside would say it was due to the stress of their unusual job, but Connor knew better now.

He glanced behind him and saw that Becker and Sarah were still glaring at each other. They had been seeing each other for a few weeks now, but lately they just couldn't stop fighting.

"Abby, come look at this." He showed her his study. "There has been a rise of volcanic activity; earthquakes and hurricanes all over the world have increased by 40% in the past few years. If it doesn't slow down soon..." Abby looked confused. That was a huge increase in such a short time.

"When exactly did this start?" She asked

"Hang on, let me check." Connor typed away on his keyboard until a date came up. They both looked at the screen in shock. "July 12th, 2007." Connor said out loud. They both remembered what happened that day.

"The day Nick came back from the Permian Era. That was the day he said the world had changed and Claudia Brown had disappeared." Neither of them knew or remembered Claudia Brown, but Nick said she had existed until that day. Connor voiced what both of them were thinking.

"Cutter was right, the world as we knew it did change."

_To be continued..._

**So...**** what do you think? Tell me your thoughts! Again, sorry the chapters are so short, I'll update really soon!**_  
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	2. Chapter 1: The Impossible Plan

Chapter I: The Impossible Plan

Abby and Connor were unable to speak. Whatever had happened in the Permian Era so long ago was coming back to destroy the world.

"I don't understand it, there's no reasonable explanation." Connor couldn't grasp his mind around it, but Abby had a revelation.

"Cutter would know. He had an answer to everything. With him and Stephen as a team, they were unstoppable." Connor searched her face with his eyes, as if trying to find an answer.

"You don't mean...Bahh! Impossible." Connor spun in his chair and turned his back towards her, but Abby grabbed his shoulder.

"Think about it." She called Sarah over to join them, and together the three of them hatched a plan to save the world.

* * *

Danny sat alone at a table at the other side of the ARC, drinking his coffee. He was miserable. Ever since Jenny had left the ARC, he just couldn't get his life back together. What he gave on as humor and amusement was just a front. On the inside, he felt dead. He had to go to the one place where he felt peace and contentment.

Half an hour later, Danny sat beside a stream that ran behind his house. He lived out in the country, with just himself and the nature around him. He thought about getting a dog to keep him company, but quickly changed his mind. If anything were to happen to it, he would be devastated. It seemed that anything close and dear to him had been snatched out of his hands. First, his brother, who had been killed when he was a teenager. Then Jenny, the women who he would've loved to get to know more, had quit the team.

He shook his head. She wasn't interested in him anyways, and he knew her whole struggle with Nick and Claudia that she still hadn't sorted out yet. No, she was better off without him. He looked across the stream and saw a red squirrel that had been brave enough to get close to him. Danny stuck his hand out, inviting it closer, but the creature skittered away

"Figures." He needed something, or someone, to help him out of his pit of loneliness.

* * *

"Request denied." Lester said flatly.

"Denied?" both Abby and Connor said at the same time.

"Isn't that what I just said, open your ears!" Lester shouted at them. Connor was flabbergasted.

"But this is the fate of the world!"

"So you've hatched a rescue mission through time? You people are crazy! Do you have any evidence that the world is heading to an Armageddon?" They both shuffled their feet.

"Not conclusively." Lester had already seen his notes, but Connor knew he wanted even more proof, to be absolutely sure.

"No, I cannot allow you to embark on a hare-brained wild goose chase through the anomalies."

"But sir..."

"No buts! Dismissed!" Abby and Connor walked out of Lester's office, looking quite dejected. Once they were out of earshot Abby exploded suddenly, startling Connor.

"He has no right to do that! Argh, sometimes he makes me so...so...mad!" Abby and Connor walked down the ramp back to the ADD and met with Sarah. She handed a computerized pad to Connor."Is everything ready?" he asked her.

"Yep." She smiled. Abby looked confused.

"What...what are you doing?"

"Oh, just going on a little...'vacation'." Abby saw his sly smirk.

"I love you."

"I know you do." to which Abby smacked him.

"Ow." Connor rubbed his arm. Captain Becker came up to them."Will you be requiring my assistance?"

"No, Becker, your 'services' will be needed here." Abby winked at Sarah and she blushed. "But, we should call Danny, this is just the sort of thing he needs." Everyone had noticed that he had been a little down lately.

* * *

Danny was still sitting by the stream when he received Connor's text. He laughed, knowing it was from Connor without even looking at the recipient. It read:

_Need u on resQ mission to sav wrld. _

_ Du not b L8, _

_ cuz the f8 of the wrld dpnds on it. -Con._

Danny sighed. This was just what he needed. There was nothing as good as saving the world to lift his spirits.

"This one's for you, brother." He said as he gathered up his gear. The closer he drove to the ARC, the better he felt. By the time he had arrived at the Anomaly Research Center, he was able to restore his humorous front.

"I hear you guys need my help." Danny opened the doors to meet the team.

"Help for what?" Danny stopped and saw Lester staring right at him. Connor stood behind Lester's sight, pretending to slice his throat with his hand, indicating not to let the secret out. Danny stuttered.

"Um...well uhm...assistance with coffee break!" Danny smiled but wished an anomaly would appear and swallow him up. He walked over to the coffee table sitting nearby and saw Lester eyeing him closely out of the corner of his eye. He cursed inwardly for making a fool out of himself in front of Lester. Lester knew they were planning something, so he "invited" Becker to follow him back up to his office.

* * *

Ten minutes later the team met in Abby's arboretum to avoid being seen. Becker sat nervously by the door.

"Thanks to Danny here, Lester suspects that we are up to something." Danny tried to object but Becker continued. "He's had me place guards at all entrances and exits for the time being. Thankfully, he trusts me and he only required one guard for each."

"So why are we here?" Connor asked, "Won't Lester suspect that we are missing?"

"Lester is on the phone talking with the minister, so we know he'll be a while yet. Now, we are in here because I was posted at the outside left entrance." He pointed to a grate in the wall near Danny. "This grate leads right out there. Go straight through, take a left, then keep going straight until you are out. I will meet you there. Do you have everything?" Connor nodded.

"I hope this works." Danny said

"It'll work, it'll work." Connor fidgeted with the computerized map. Abby and Sarah embraced each other while Danny shook Becker's hand.

"Sure you can handle it without us?" Danny asked him

"Yeah, just try not to change the world too much."

"Hopefully, we won't." Sarah gasped as an audible click was heard from the door knob.

"Go, all of you, I'll stall them." He stood up, pulling Sarah with him. "Except for you, you're with me." Danny opened the grate and they all climbed in. Connor nearly dropped the grate but was able to shut it behind him without making a loud crash. Then they were gone.

Sarah blushed as she realized she was now alone in the room with the one and only Captain Becker. People would assume the worst of them.

"Alex, I can't be seen with you, people will think..." She tugged on his shoulder. "I have to hide." She was about to dash off like a scared kitten when Becker grabbed her arm. He looked her in the eye.

"First of all, don't call me Alex in front of _anyone. _Second, you and I can be seen together without anyone suspecting anything, because we are people with moral character and upright standards. Now come on!" He dragged a reluctant Sarah back to the doorway and opened the door.. There stood a surprised SAS soldier. Sarah knew looking nervous would only make them more suspicious, so she took a deep breath and smiled at the man while Becker gave him a nod. Her heart was beating rapidly, but she looked back into the room at the closed grate and gave a silent prayer for her friends as they walked away.

**Oh, on a side note, please if you know Becker's first name, please please please don't say it in the reviews and spoil it for those who don't know, I'm going to reveal it for a funny part later. Thanks :) I just heard that David Tennant(Doctor Who) might be cast as the Riddler for the next Batman movie!! That would be so cool! Of course, I've never seen the Dark Knight, but David would still be a great Riddler! Tell me what you think!  
**


	3. Chapter 2: Close Call

**Thanks to those who put this on Story Alert, you made my day! (though I still appreciate reviews too!)**

**I forgot to mention in the intro that this story will feature EVERY single _main_ character from all three seasons of Primeval, some will only make a cameo appearance, others have a more meaningful part in the story.**

Chapter II: Close Call

As the three of them crawled through the pipe, the team quickly realized it was getting more and more cramped. Danny stopped abruptly and Abby bumped into the back of him. Then Connor proceeded to bump into Abby who again bumped into Danny, exasperating him further.

"Look, will you guys just hang on a sec while I check my bearings? He immediately went silent.

"What is it?" Connor said rather loudly.

"Shh!" Danny tilted his head like a dog in order to hear better. Everything was silent, except for a strange beeping echoing around the corridor. "Oh no!" He groaned. "The practice alarm system! If I don't get to the main control and shut it off it will alert Captain Becker. If Lester finds out we'll be in hot water." A while ago, before Johnson's men had taken over the ARC, Becker and Danny had set up a practice alarm system to test security. "Keep going, I'll meet you outside." He headed back from the direction they had came.

"It's getting to be quite a habit isn't it?" Connor said after Danny had disappeared behind them.

"What?"

"Crawling through pipes together." She remembered last time when they were in an office building heading for the environmental controls in order to kill the giant worms that had infested the building.

Connor and Abby continued crawling forward, hoping to get outside soon.

* * *

Sarah and Becker had returned to the ADD room. Although everything was going as according to plan so far, Becker had a feeling of impending doom.

As if on cue, he looked upstairs to where Lester's office was. There he saw Lester leaning on the rail staring at him. Becker's stomach churned as he slowly lifted his hand to wave at him. He hoped his sick smile would not give him away.

Suddenly a very loud beeping came from his pocket. Unfortunately, Lester had heard it and knew what that sound meant. As he ran down the walkway Becker tried to shut it off quickly, with no avail.

* * *

Meanwhile, Danny had come up with every curse word he could think of trying to shut the security system off. He had been too late and he knew it. He pulled down the lever that stopped the incessant beeping but he knew it wouldn't be enough. He jumped suddenly as the alarms started going off in full. It only meant one thing: Intruder Alert. Soon Lester would be on to them. He started running as fast as he could while pulling out his communicator.

"The gig is up, Connor, get outside as fast as you can and get to a truck. If I'm not out in exactly five minutes, just go."

"No! We're not leaving you here, Danny." he heard Abby interject.

"You have to, the fate of the world depends on you now, just go!" He shut his communicator off. "Guess we're doing this one without your help, Becker."

* * *

Actually, Becker couldn't even move at the moment, on account of the two SAS soldiers holding tightly onto his arms. Lester was furious.

"Do you know what you have just done?" He spat. "You've given the fate of the world over to three bumbling idiots! You've probably just condemned the world to destruction!"

"No Lester, it was you who had condemned the world by your own inaction!" Sarah struggled against the soldiers also holding her. Lester turned to the guard closest to him.

"Find Quinn, and stop them by whatever means necessary. Take as many men as you need." He looked back at his captives. "They will all pay for their disobedience." All the guards in the room left, leaving Lester with Becker and Sarah.

"You have no right to hold us here against our will." Becker gritted between his teeth.

"Actually, I can." Lester stuck his face in Becker's. "Defying the government is a capital offense." He leaned back to straighten his suit. "But no matter, as of now both your positions are term..."

He was cut short by the Anomaly Detector blaring. Lester cursed under his breath while Sarah and Becker both gave a sigh of relief. They all knew that Lester had no men available, as they were now all chasing Abby, Connor, and Danny. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He said simply, waved his hand over his shoulder and walked out. Both Sarah and Becker laughed and hugged each other.

_"How ironic that an anomaly saved our jobs...for now."_ Becker thought. Sarah punched in a few keys on the ADD while Becker watched over her shoulder.

"Is it the one that Connor needs to find first?"

"No, that one opened up a few hours ago, this one is in a library downtown."

"Well, let's get going then!"

**Review!!**


	4. Chapter 3: Back to the Future

**I'm a little bothered that I'm already on the third chapter and no reviews yet O.o I need to know if people are reading this, so please review!! I have virtual cheesecake!! :D**

Chapter III: Back to the Future

Abby and Connor had made it outside. They ran over to the closest truck. Abby made Connor get in the left passenger's side, due to his past driving experience. Connor didn't want to bring up the time he crashed the truck through a tree, completely totaling it. Not one of his finer moments. In fact, he couldn't think of many of his finer moments.

_That's why I have to succeed in this, to make up for my stupid mistakes, like when I shot Abby in the leg with a tranquilizer dart, or when I nearly lost Rex for good, or even when I fell out of the tree and sprained my ankle in the Cretaceous era. _He sighed wearily. If it wasn't for Abby there to boost his confidence and remind him of his abilities, he would've quit the ARC a long time ago.

Well, that, and maybe because he loved her. But that just made him more frustrated. It was like she was afraid to acknowledge him as more than a friend, even after they had kissed. Maybe that whole situation with her and Stephen had made her afraid to love again.

_Someday, I'll show her what true love really is, compassionate and caring, with sacrifice and never backing down. _

Abby drove the truck around to the outside of the ARC. It had been way past five minutes. Connor didn't want to leave just as much as Abby, but he knew Lester's men would be on to them soon.

"Abby, we have to go."

"No, Connor, we wait." She gave him a look that told him she would not be easily swayed. All of a sudden SAS soldiers came pouring out of the building.

"Abby, we're not going to do Danny any good by getting ourselves caught, he can take care of himself." Abby sighed. She knew he was right. She gave one last longing look before putting the truck in drive and pulling forward.

* * *

Danny, however, had just made it outside in time to see the back end of their Hilux disappear around the corner. He was about to lash out in frustration when he remembered the cut-off. If he ran as fast as he could across the lot by the ARC, he should be able to make it in time to where the road to the ARC turns onto the highway. None of the soldiers were looking for him, because they assumed he had already made it out and was in the truck with Abby and Connor.

Sure enough, after he had ran his heart out to reach the cut-off in time, he saw the wonderful sight of the Hilux truck slowing down to make the turn. He hopped in the open back just as the truck started to accelerate. Connor saw him through the back window and shouted his name excitedly. Abby smiled and hit the gas hard.

Once they were out of sight of the ARC, Danny sighed and plopped himself down, with his back to the window. All of a sudden he heard a gun shot. He threw himself to the floor of the truck and peeked up over the edge. Three other trucks were behind them, and the one in front was firing on him. He seethed inwardly.

"How come _I_ never get to drive?" He tapped on the back window, getting Connor's attention. He tried to yell at him to roll down the window, but because of the window barrier and the speed of he truck, not to mention the flying bullets, Connor was unable to understand him. So Danny made the motion of rolling down the window. This Connor understood, so he told Abby to roll down the back window, which she did without hesitating. Danny crawled through the open window and plopped on the back seat.

"Thanks, guys." He said, sighing with relief.

"Any time, Danny." Connor turned around in his seat and smiled at him. Abby screamed as a bullet shot through both the back and front windows, causing them to swerve precariously.

"We better lose them before they decide to blow our tires." Danny said.

"Maybe we should let Danny drive." Connor chuckled, remembering the time when Danny lost Christine Johnson's men by driving in front of an oncoming tractor-trailer.

"I'm good." Danny replied.

"But I'm not!!" Abby yelled as yet another shot rang out.

"Connor, where are we going?" Danny asked.

"How should I know, Abby's driving!" Danny could've bonked him on the head.

"Because you have the map!!" he shouted at him.

"Oh yeah." Connor smiled sheepishly and pulled out his map. "Uhm, Abby, turn here." He pointed to the right.

"But there's no turn here, it's an empty lot."

"I know, it's a shortcut." Abby shrugged and did as he said. Danny had a hard time sitting straight as the truck rocked back and forth as she drove through the lot. Finally, after crossing the lot, she pulled to a stop. Danny recognized the place as the racecar track where they encountered the Megopterans from the future.

"What?!? We're going to the future?"

"Yes, we have to grab something before we start our journey." Connor said. It wasn't hard for Danny to figure out what.

"An anomaly creator?"

"Yes."

"But what if this anomaly's not open yet?"

"Why would we prepare our departure now if the very first anomaly wasn't open?" Danny thought about that for a moment as they climbed out of the truck and ran across the track to the anomaly.

Sure enough, the anomaly was glowing bright when they got inside the garage. "Hopefully," Connor said, "another plus is that Lester's men won't follow us through." Danny took a nervous look around before going through the anomaly after Connor and Abby. What he saw blew his mind away.

"Oh my goodness..."

**I know it's not very exciting now, but it will get better, I promise :)**


	5. Chapter 4: Forgetfulness Can Be Deadly

Chapter IV: Forgetfulness Can Be Deadly

Becker and Sarah were the only ones to arrive in front of the library. As always, the area around the anomaly site was deserted. They walked cautiously through the doors, that amazingly, were still shut. It was completely silent, except for the sound of their breath echoing around the shelves of books. Becker had drawn his gun while Sarah wandered around the library, trying to find the anomaly.

"Hey" she called to Becker. "Come look at this." She held up a mangled book she had found on the floor.

"What the..." Becker inspected the pages. "They've been shredded, looks like by a rat or a mouse.

"But look at the size of these tears! No rat could've done that." Something skittered behind them and they turned around. Nothing.

"Keep looking, we have to find that anomaly."

* * *

Indeed, Lester's men had not followed Danny, Abby and Connor through the anomaly. They had all heard the rumors of the future predators and giant bugs that killed humans then infested them with their young. Instead, they had reported back to Lester. They knew he would be mad, but they assumed for the wrong reason.

"You shot at them?!?!" The SAS man Jerrod slowly nodded his head. Jerrod was in charge of finding the trio of escapees. "What were you thinking?! Were you trying to kill them?!" Jerrod shook his head

"But sir, you said, 'get them back by whatever means necessary.'"

"I don't care what I said! How dare you endanger the lives of my one and only response team! You're fired!!" As Jerrod walked out of the ARC, Lester seethed inwardly. He would never tell anybody, but he considered the members of the ARC Team his friends, or at least his close colleagues.

_This has gone too far. _Of course he was mad that they had escaped, but for once, he decided to trust his friends. Maybe they were doing the right thing by changing the world. He called off the search, but told his men to keep an eye out for them. They may be right about the universe, but yet, they may be wrong, so he decided to play it safe.

* * *

For once in his life, Danny was absolutely speechless.

"What happened?" Abby whispered. It was nothing like the last time they had come to the future. Before, everything was destroyed by the future predators. Here, everything was fine, like nothing had ever happened. Danny realized it first.

"Didn't Helen say something about Christine Johnson destroying the future? When she killed her it must've prevented the future from becoming destroyed." Connor exploded.

"She also said Cutter would destroy the future before she killed him!!" Abby placed a hand on his quivering shoulder.

"We're here to fix that Connor." This seemed to settle him down somewhat. Danny continued.

"Helen also said it wasn't enough just to kill her husband, so that's why she shoved Johnson through this anomaly. Maybe she had her facts wrong about Nick." Connor was still mad.

"Well...good riddance to her, I'm glad she..." Danny put his hand up to stop him.

"Before you say something you'll regret." He knew Connor would be thankful later. "Where do we go now?"

"Why, to the ARC of course." Danny gave him a quizzical look but all he got from Connor was a mischievous smile. "This way."

* * *

Sarah had found the anomaly. She turned around when she heard something. Behind her was the biggest rodent she had ever seen. It was nearly a foot long and had brown fur with soft white spots. Instead of screaming, she was fascinated. She had a fear for bugs, but she thought rodents were fascinating. She bent over when she saw Becker behind the rat. She put her hand up so he would stop moving forward. He raised his gun up anyway, just to be safe. The rat merely looked at her questioningly.

"It's amazing." She whispered. Becker saw the rat tense up.

"Sarah!" He yelled as the creature lunged for her face. She screamed and fell to the side as a shot rang out from Becker's gun. The rat lay where it had fallen.

"Thanks." She ran over and hugged him, much like when Abby hugged Stephen after he saved her from the future predator.

"Can you identify it on your database?" He was much less receiving of her hug than Stephen was to Abby. Sarah was so fascinated by the creature that she didn't think to identify it at first.

"Oh...sure." She wasn't so fascinated by it now. She grabbed her mini computer and opened up the tiny database of information she had. She wished Connor was here, or at least had his computer. He was so much more skilled in this area than she was. She paled when she realized what the creature was. "Becker! It's species Josephoartigasia Monesi!" She said it as if he knew, but he just furrowed his eyebrows. "We have to close the anomaly, quick!" She pointed to the dead rat. "This here, is just a young one. The adults can get bigger than a mini!" Becker's eyes widened at the prospect.

"You brought the Anomaly Sealer didn't you..." His voice trailed off when he saw her empty hands.

"I thought you grabbed it." She said quietly. "It must still be in the truck." Becker sprinted off towards the entrance, yelling

"I'm faster, I'll get it!"

"Becker!!" She shouted after him. He was gone so fast he didn't realize he had left her without a gun.

**No, I did not make up Josephoartigasia Monesi, I did actual research, it does exist, and it could get bigger than a car. Next up, Danny, Connor and Abby see some "slightly" familiar faces!**


	6. Chapter 5: Lester

**Yayy finally a review! Thanks so much Peppy87 my first reviewer! *passes cheesecake along* :)**

Chapter V: Lester

Danny, Abby and Connor had made it to the future ARC. They were hiding outside in the bushes.

"It looks the same as before." Danny said.

"Yes, 'cause nothing ever happened here." Connor replied.

"How many years are we in the future?" Abby asked him.

"I don't know, maybe twenty to thirty years."

"Wow. How do we get in?" she continued.

"The same way we got out." Danny said. "I mean, nothing could have changed too much could it?" Danny grabbed his gear and headed for the side of the building where they had last exited out. No one noticed any immediate differences, even when they were inside the building.

"I wonder if Lester's still in charge." Connor peeked through the window of Abby's arboretum that gave a full view of the main room.

"Connor!" Abby yelled and yanked him down. "Don't let yourself be seen!" She stood up and pressed a button beside the window, and a screen silently slid down in front of the window. Thankfully, there was nobody in the main room who would've noticed. "Now we can see and hear out, but nobody can see or hear in. I had it installed before we left our time. Very handy if you don't want to be disturbed." She glared at Connor.

"Cool." was all Connor could say.

"Who's that?" Danny stood beside them. They all watched as a woman walked through the main doors.

"Is that Jenny?" Connor said. Indeed, the woman looked a lot like Jenny when she first joined the ARC team. But her face was different, yet strangely familiar. But as Jenny's clothes were more colorful and extravagant, this woman was more subtle in her fashion. In fact, all she was wearing was black, except for her pink and frilly blouse seen from under her black suit jacket. She wore a simple black skirt that fell to her knees. Her long dark brown hair was kept up tightly in a clip. Her black high heels clicked on the linoleum floor. She had an air of professionalism all about her.

"Is that..." Connor had a slight smile on his face. All three of them were silent as they watched this strange woman. She walked over to where a man with bright blond hair and a woman with shiny black hair were conversing.

"Hey!" She yelled at them. "What do you think this is, some sort of 'conversing lounge?' You'd better get to work before I sack you!" The two just rolled their eyes and walked off.

"Yep." Connor said, his smile getting bigger. "Lester."

"What?!! Lester has a daughter?!" Abby exclaimed. Danny grabbed Connor's shoulder.

"He's married?!!" Connor laughed.

"Yes, married, two daughters, one son."

"How do you know that? Have you been looking through his files on the ADD's computer again?" Connor looked nervous at her question.

"umm...no" he lied.

"Yeah, right." Abby didn't believe him, and for good reason. The woman walked over to the ADD's main screen and stared at it. "She looks about 30. That's a little young to be a government official."

"Well, she is Lester's daughter. Connor, do you know her name?"

"It's either Lisa or Kathryn. The ADD didn't gave an exact detail on his childrens' description." He winced when he realized what came out of his mouth.

"Aha!" Abby shouted. "You did check up on Lester's file"

"Well, I thought the information would come in handy." Danny ignored them both.

"Guys!" He interrupted. "How do we get one of those anomaly devices?"

"Well, first, I have to get to the ADD for the information on where they are kept."

"Brilliant!" Danny threw his hands in the air. "Right at the heart of the ARC is where we need to be."

"Yep. Any bright ideas?" Abby said.

"We could wait for an anomaly to open and everybody to leave, or at least until tonight, when everybody goes home." Connor replied.

"But that could take hours!" Danny shouted.

"You got any better ideas?" Connor answered sarcastically.

"Well, no, but we can't stay in this room, someone's bound to come in."

"We'll just hide if that happens. There are lots of hiding spots here." Danny sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Okay, we'll wait."


	7. Chapter 6: The Next Generation

Chapter VI: The Next Generation

Becker made it to the truck in record time. He grabbed the anomaly sealer from the back seat. Suddenly he heard an ear-splitting scream.

"ALEX!!" he heard Sarah shout from inside the library. He ran as fast as his legs could take him. He cocked his gun as he ran through the open doors of the library. Thankfully, he remembered to shut the doors behind him. He ran to the anomaly to find Sarah sitting on the ground, covered in cuts and bruises. He ran to her. She was quite shaken up.

"Alex..." She touched his face for reassurance that he was there. "It was here, Monesi. It attacked me, but it ran back through the anomaly after I screamed." She hugged him, quivering. This time, Becker hugged her back.

"Sarah, I'm so sorry, I should've left you with a gun. I wasn't trained to do stupid stuff like that. You could've been seriously hurt, or worse, because of me." Guilt shone in his eyes. "I won't let it happen again. I promise."

"Becker, you were doing what you thought was best, you can't blame yourself for making a mistake." She saw in his eyes that she hadn't convinced him fully.

She decided to drop the subject and took the AS out of Becker's hand. She had it set up in under a minute. She slammed the button that sealed the anomaly. And it went from normal to the familiar spherical shape of being in locked mode. "We should stay here for now, being the only ones on call." Sarah said.

"That, and Lester will probably fire us the moment we step inside the ARC."

"True." Sarah stared at the anomaly. "It's truly beautiful isn't it?"

"If you say so." All Becker saw when he looked at the anomaly was the horrible creatures that came through and all the useless death that happened because of it. Even that man who was on the team, what was his name? Stephen. He had been killed by creatures. Even Danny's brother, Christine Johnson.... And countless others. No, all Becker saw in the anomaly was pain, destruction, and death.

* * *

Danny, Connor, and Abby were forced to wait in Abby's arboretum until nightfall, when everyone went home, much to Danny's annoyance. There were a few times when they had to hide when someone entered the room. Abby crawled back into the duct, Danny inside one of the lockers and Connor, behind the door.

Danny disabled the intruder alert system, so no one suspected anything was out of the ordinary. The blond-haired man they had seen earlier came in many times. Abby could tell he knew a lot about plants. She suspected he was her son, and the black-haired woman Sarah's daughter. But she was baffled. She wasn't in a relationship yet.

True, she had kissed Connor, and she could admit she loved him, but she felt something was holding her back, and she couldn't imagine having a family with him, but yet, she couldn't imagine life without him. She felt as if her head was in a thick fog, until the blond man turned around and she was able to look right into his eyes. She gasped aloud, almost giving her location away. She knew those eyes very well. They reminded her so much of Connor, dark chocolate brown and shining. She had lost her soul in those eyes.

Finally, the man turned away and Abby was able to concentrate again. She knew what she had to do, if they loved each other, there was no reason to hide it anymore. She smiled, her heart singing with joy. She finally knew what to do.

* * *

That night, all the lights in the ARC were shut down, and the three of them were alone in the building. They slowly exited the room and headed for the main ADD room. Connor rushed over to it and turned on the main screen. Its' bright lights quickly lit up the dark room.

"Anomaly Creators are on the second left door through the upper hallway." Danny rushed off to get one. Connor stayed with his eyes glued to the computer screen. "Hey Abby, check this out." He had opened up Miss Lester's file on the screen. "Her name is Kathryn Elsie Lester, and she's 35 years old. She took over Lester's job two years ago, and seems to be doing a pretty good job at it."

"Who are the rest of the people that work here?" Connor stopped and turned around. He knew what she wanted to know, because it was the same thing that was on his mind.

"Abby, I don't think we should be looking up our own future, the result could be...disastrous, doing so could change the course of history."

"Oh come on, Connor, I know you're as curious as I am." Connor was silent. "Haven't we seen a lot already?"

"More than enough." Connor closed the screen as Danny walked through the door with an anomaly creator. Danny and Connor then went back to the room to grab their gear, so Abby was now alone with the ADD. She knew a few tricks about working it from watching Connor so many times. She brought the screen back up and searched for her son in the database. Her heart skipped a beat when his picture flashed on the screen.

"Nicholas Thomas Temple. Nick. I like that." She smiled. She knew her son's first name was after Nick Cutter, and the second after Connor's old friend Tom, who had been killed by a parasite. Abby was startled to hear a female voice behind her.

"I knew you guys would come eventually." Abby spun around and was face to face with the black haired woman she had seen earlier with her son.

"How did you know we were coming?"

"The world is heading for destruction. Someone had to come eventually."

"May I ask you your name?"

"Claudia. Claudia Becker. Though I fear it may not be for long."

"What do you mean?" by this time Danny and Connor had reentered the main room.

"Your presence here is already changing the future, and I'm afraid what you will do will change it entirely. You guys traveling thirty years into the future doesn't mean that the world isn't still heading for destruction. Haven't you felt the tremors at all today?"

"Yes, I do remember, just after we got here, the ground shook like something horrible. Are you saying the world could be destroyed any day now?"

"Yes, which is why I'm letting you go." She had a downcast look on her face. "If you see my mother again, tell her that I love her more than anything."

"Why, what happened?" Connor came up beside Abby.

"She was killed by a creature a few years ago. My father was so devastated he fell into a permanent state of depression."

"Tell us when it happened, we may be able to prevent it."

"June 3rd, 2029, by a Velociraptor. I was 17. I have never been able to get that date out of my mind." A tear slid down her cheek. Abby put a hand on her shoulder.

"Claudia, we're here to change that." Claudia smiled at her.

"Thank you." Suddenly the Anomaly Detector started blaring, basking the room in red light. "You guys better go, soon this place will be teeming with people."

"Thank you, for helping us Claudia." As they exited the building, Abby was confused. Saying that name, Claudia, had made her feel strange, as if she already knew someone by that name. She saw an image of someone in her mind, but it was too blurry to identify. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to forget the ordeal.

Soon they were back outside heading for the anomaly that had brought them to the future.

**Next up, the Team finally see some familiar faces, some welcomed, some not...**


	8. Chapter 7: The Forgotten Past

**Yes, there is a good reason why Sarah and Becker's daughter is named Claudia, it will be revealed in a few chapters.**

Chapter VII: The Forgotten Past

Once they were through the anomaly, the team made the mistake of assuming Lester's men had left the area. Because of this, they were forced to flee on foot through the woods next to the racetrack.

They had been running for a little ways when they came to a hotel that looked strangely familiar to Connor and Abby. But they didn't have time to think, Lester's men were closing in on them fast.

"Connor!!" Danny yelled "Open an anomaly, here!"

"Here?" Connor repeated.

"Yes! Here!" Connor knew he didn't have time to set the coordinates on the Anomaly Creator, so he used it on a random frequency. Thankfully, Claudia from the future had showed him how to work it without having to use Helen's computer like last time.

They fell through the anomaly into a pile of bushes in front of the three story building. They shielded their eyes against the light, just coming from the darkness on the other side of the anomaly. Connor closed it as soon as they fell through.

"That's strange." Connor pointed to the building, which had been abandoned before, but was now crawling with SAS soldiers.

"Connor," Abby whispered. "We've been here before..."

"Yeah, it does look kind of familiar." An ambulance was parked outside of the building. "Hey look!" Connor whispered excitedly. "It's Cutter and Stephen!" Abby peeked her head up over the bushes to look. Stephen and Nick were conversing with another man behind the open doors of the yellow ambulance.

"Connor!" Abby shook his arm. "I remember, we're in the past. This was when we were looking for the aerial anomaly and the Pteranadon that almost ate Rex."

"Yeah, you're right. But who's that?" Abby saw a man in a black SAS uniform much like Captain Becker's walking Cutter's way. She recognized him as Captain Tom Ryan, the man who had been killed by a future predator a long time ago.

But that wasn't who Connor was talking about. A woman with light brown hair strode beside him. From their angle behind the bushes they couldn't quite see her face. Everything about her was very familiar.

When Nick and Stephen saw her they left the back of the ambulance to meet up with her. Abby saw a small glint of gladness in Cutter's eyes when he saw the woman. All three of them behind the bushes were silent as Nick and the woman conversed about the anomaly and the victim inside the hotel.

"Look," The woman said. "I think I should warn you, Lester's getting impatient. He thinks you cause more trouble than you should."

"What do you think?" Nick replied.

"I think it would be helpful if I could show him we're making some sort of progress."

"Or what?" Nick said quietly.

"Or it becomes difficult." Nick became exasperated at this.

"Look, Lester doesn't own this, the government doesn't own this, if you really want to help, keep him off my back."

"Please," She implored. "Don't make me take sides, Nick." Obviously, they were close enough to be on a first name basis. At Nick's silence the woman turned around. Connor and Abby gasped and Danny started to leap up.

"Jenny!" Fortunately, Abby and Connor were able to pull him back down before the woman looked their way, hearing the noise. The woman merely shrugged her shoulders and rushed off to follow Nick into the building. Abby and Connor were dumbstruck and Danny was confused.

"Nick was right." Connor whispered. "About everything. About Claudia Brown." Abby nodded but Danny was shocked.

"Claudia Brown?! I thought Jenny was making that up about being someone else." Connor and Abby ignored him.

"Abby, we should've believed him. I always knew that it was possible, but I never fully trusted him."

"Connor, where exactly in the past are we?" Danny still couldn't believe that there was a time when Jenny Lewis never existed. Connor grabbed the AC out of his backpack and looked at the coordinates.

"Oh my!"

"What? What is it?"

"Not only are we in the past, we're in a separate dimension." He tapped the screen with a hint of confused amusement. "I didn't know this thing could even do that!"

"Abby, what happens here in our dimension?" Danny asked her.

"Well, Stephen and Ryan find the Pteranadon on top of a building a few miles from here, so Stephen, Nick and Ryan head off to find it while Leek and the rest of Ryan's men stay here to clean up the mess. Afterwards, everybody, except me and Connor, who were in the woods looking for Rex, met back in the hotel to discuss the release of the captured Pteranadon. If I remember correctly, Leek went back to the ARC to report to Lester while Stephen and Captain Ryan and his men prepared the release of the Pteranadon, and Cutter stayed behind in the hotel to work on some unfinished business. But he became trapped by a swarm of Agnathorus..."

"Argnathous." Connor corrected her.

"Whatever. They were flesh-eating birds. Anyways, Nick somehow got all of them trapped in one room and set off a bomb that killed them all. I don't know the exact details."

"I wonder what happens in this universe." Connor said.

"Well, we can't stay to find out, we have to get back to our own dimension."

"Um, actually, we can't."

"Why not?" Danny demanded.

"The Anomaly Creator apparently needs time to warm up again before creating a new anomaly. Without Helen's computer, it needs it's own battery source, which doesn't last as long."

"Well, how long do we have to wait?"

"An hour, but it varies depending on where we're going." Danny put his fingers to his temples.

"Okay, I guess we'll have to wait again."


	9. Chapter 8: A Familiar Foe

Chapter VIII: A Familiar Foe

In that hour the activity around the hotel was pretty low, considering the team was off chasing the Pteranadon. Neither Connor nor Abby saw anybody that even closely resembled Leek. They suspected that he didn't work at the ARC in this dimension. They had no idea that the ARC didn't even exist here.

They had been there forty-five minutes when they saw Nick return with Claudia unconscious on a stretcher.

"I wonder what happened?" Abby said. Ever the curious one, Connor stood up.

"Let's go find out." He started walking towards the side window, but Danny grabbed his arm. "Didn't you say this was where Cutter was attacked by a swarm of carnivorous birds? What's to stop them from attacking us?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but there is the possibility of them not being attracted to us because we're from a different dimension." Danny scoffed at his theory.

"But me and Connor did find out that if we put our hands on our heads as a protection, they won't be as likely to attack." Abby interjected.

"It's still too risky." Connor gave him an 'I don't care, I'm still going' look.

"Fine, you stay here, I want to find out what happens to Claudia." Danny gritted his teeth at Connor's rebellion.

"Whatever." and he started following them. It took them a while to reach the side window because they had to go around the building without being seen. By the time they had gotten to the window, Claudia was awake, and Nick was examining her. Because the windows were open, they were able to hear every word between Nick and Claudia.

"Any nausea?"

"No." She said quietly and shook her head softly.

"Any headache?"

"No." She said again. But Nick still sensed something was wrong.

"Does anything feel odd at all?" He persisted.

"Just the one thing." She whispered so quietly they could barely hear her. She seemed hesitant to tell him what was wrong.

"What?" Cutter whispered.

"I can't see anything." Danny gasped and tried to stand up again but Connor placed his hand over Danny's mouth and pulled him down. Danny gave him a dirty look but remained silent.

"What has gotten into you!?" Connor whispered, but Danny was silent. Abby ignored them and watched Nick lean in closer to Claudia's face, their noses almost touching. But then Connor pulled down on her shoulder. "Abby, we should stop eavesdropping on their private life." Before she could object, a familiar voice whispered from beside them.

"What are you doing here?" They all spun around.

"Helen." Danny said with disgust, being careful to keep his voice down.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Danny noticed she had long, medium-brown hair rather than the short dark brown Danny was used to.

"We will."

"Oh, so you're from the future, how exciting." Helen could easily believe that, with all the anomalies and such.

"I liked it better when you were dead." Connor's words dripped with malice.

"Dead, what do you mean, dead?" Connor immediately regretted his words. "I obviously die in the future." She looked down at the ground. "I must prevent this from happening." Danny saw she was about to bolt, so he leapt up and held on to her and dragged her out of the view of the windows.

"Sorry, I can't let you do that." Danny had restrained many a criminal as a cop, so he had no trouble holding on to her. She struggled under his tight grip. Abby stood up beside him.

"Guys, look, up there, it's the swarm, we should move farther down. And I want to talk to Helen." They moved down the building to the back entrance, which took a while considering how hard Helen was trying to break free of Danny. The carnivorous birds now surrounded the building. True to Connor's words, the swarm ignored the four of them, even Helen, apparently, standing in plain sight. "Helen, why are you here?"

"Because of the swarm, I came to help Nick." Connor didn't believe her.

"Why? You've never showed much interest in him before." But Helen was confused.

"Why wouldn't I? He's my husband." Danny realized that this Helen was not as dangerous as the one he had met, but he knew she still had the potential, so he kept his hold on her.

"Look, it's Cutter!" Connor shouted. Cutter raced towards the ambulance parked outside the back entrance, with the swarm close behind him. He leapt in the back of the ambulance and shut the doors.

"Wait a minute, Claudia must still be inside." Abby said

"She's blind!" Danny shouted. "Why did he leave her?" Danny was angry. He felt a little protective of this Claudia, being the supposed doppleganger of Jenny.

"I'm sure he has a good reason." Abby then realized something. "Helen, you're supposed to help Claudia, she's not supposed to die here. It all makes sense now."

"No way!" Helen shouted "I was going to help her, but I have more important things to do to now."

"Like preventing your own death? I don't think so." Danny tightened his hands on her and she squirmed under his crushing grip.

"She's not going to help Claudia now, Abby, you'll have to help her."

"What?! Me? She'll recognize me, you should go, Danny, she won't recognize you."

"She's blind. Besides, you have to pretend to be Helen, so we won't change the timeline."

"What?" Helen spat. "That's ridiculous!" Abby ignored Helen's remark.

"All right, I'll go."

"Good girl." Danny said. Abby slipped into the back entrance of the building without being seen. She silently opened the door to the room Claudia was now in and saw Claudia covered in cuts and bruises swinging a golf club at the swarm of killer birds that had entered through the chimney. Abby noticed she had pretty good accuracy for someone who was blind, so she figured she must be gaining some of her sight back. Abby went up behind her and grabbed her around the waist so she wouldn't turn around and look at her. She felt her jump of surprise under her grip.

"Who's there?" Claudia yelled out of sheer fright.

"Um, Helen Cutter." Abby tried hard to sound like Helen as much as she possibly could.

"Helen? You don't sound much like Helen." Abby silently cursed.

"Well, I've changed a lot since we last met." She kept herself from giggling at the irony. Claudia seemed to accept her explanation, so Abby pulled her behind back through the doorway and shut the door. She started running down the corridor but realized Claudia had stopped.

"Helen, I don't need your help!" Abby sighed, she didn't have time for this. She ran back and grabbed Claudia's wrist, being careful not to let her see her face.

"Yes you do, trust me, now come on." She pulled her towards the other door and found herself in the kitchen.

"_What to do, what to do?"_ She thought. Then she remembered Connor had thrown a few flash charges in her backpack.

"_A bomb! That's what Cutter used in our timeline!" _She spied a door on the other side of the room. "Claudia, go through this door and get outside as fast as you can."

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Claudia asked her.

"_Of course not" _she thought but remained silent. Claudia opened the door and ran through. Abby ran back to the other door they had came through and opened it, letting the swarm of Agnurathous into the kitchen, desperately searching for the blood they had smelled. Abby activated the flash charge and threw it inside the stove. She then realized she could exit through the door she had come through. She shut the door behind her and ran for her life down the hallway. But the explosion was more forceful than Abby had expected, and she was forcefully thrown to the ground.

She lay there until suddenly, out of nowhere, Connor appeared and hoisted her up from the ground. Thankfully, she was not hurt badly, but she leaned on Connor for support as they exited the building.

"Thought you might need some help." Abby smiled at him, and Connor's heart melted. When they got back outside to meet up with Danny at the back of the building, they saw him standing with a sheepish look on his face and Helen unconscious on the ground.

"Danny! What happened?" Abby asked.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident, she was trying to escape I didn't know what to do and..." Abby shushed him.

"Danny, it's okay."

"Yeah, Danny, it'll be easier to keep her from escaping now." Danny sat down hard on the ground and put his head in his hands.

"I've never hit a lady before." Connor grabbed his hand and pulled him up, giving a look of disgust at her unconscious form.

"Believe me, Helen is no lady. But what are we do to with her now? We can't just leave her, she'll just get back up and try to change her future."

"Claudia." Abby said.

"What?"

"Claudia Becker, from the future. She's smart, I bet she can help us."

"Good idea." Danny picked up the unconscious Helen and unceremoniously slung her over his shoulder. Abby looked towards the back entrance and saw the present Claudia talking with Nick.

"You okay?" Cutter asked, his back turned to Claudia.

"I'm fine." Claudia said softly. Cutter turned around and looked at her. "Helen saved me." Cutter was silent. Abby could just picture the look of surprise on his face.

Abby smiled."Mission accomplished." she whispered. Connor came up behind her and patted her on the back.

"Good job, Abbies, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Con." She turned around and hugged him. He smiled, embracing her warmly. She then let go of him and he prepared to set the coordinates on the AC. After fiddling with it for a bit, the settings were correct. The anomaly shone bright. Connor stood in front of it.

"To the Future!!" He shouted. Abby giggled and shoved him through. He tumbled out on the other side. Abby and Danny walked in after him. Connor stood up and brushed his pants off, giving an annoyed look at Abby. They then started their trek back to the future ARC.


	10. Chapter 9: The Relevance of Shakespeare

**Something the "Secker" fans will enjoy :)**

Chapter IX: The Relevance of Shakespeare

and Alice in Wonderland

_Last time: After Becker accidentally left Sarah alone in the library, she was attacked by a giant Monesi, but it went back through the anomaly after she screamed. Becker blames himself, thinking she could've died by his mistake. They were able to seal the anomaly and decided to stay there so Lester wouldn't fire them._

Becker and Sarah had been chatting quietly for a while when Becker's cell rang. He looked at the ID and groaned.

"Lester." He knew it would be unwise to ignore it, so he answered it.

"Status?" He heard Lester's dry monotone.

"The anomaly is sealed. Sarah's a little scratched up, but she's okay."

"Good, now I want you to return to the ARC." Becker wondered if he wanted him back so he could fire him.

"Uhm, I don't think that's wise, sir, you see, there's still a danger here and the AS has been acting a little funny lately." It was a lie, but in truth, it had been managed to get left behind in the truck, so Becker considered it 'bending the truth' a little.

"Fine, just _you_ come back then." Becker winked at Sarah. He was prepared for this.

"If the anomaly opens again, Sarah has no protection from the Monesi."

"The what?"

"The creature, the. . .never mind. And Sarah has to stay because she's the only one who knows how to work the AS other than Connor."

"How convenient." He heard Lester mutter before the sharp click in his ear. He turned and saw that Sarah was looking through the books and was struggling to pull a rather large one off the shelf.

"Look, this one's perfect for you." She heaved the book up so he could see it.

"'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy. Ha ha, very funny." He said dryly. "I may have joined the army but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"So why did you join the army then?" She asked him.

"My parents. My father was a career military man, so there was pressure on me becoming one too." He sighed. Sarah felt sorry for him, she at least had been able to pursue her dream, studying in Egyptology and Archeology. She tried to distract him from his depressing thoughts.

"So, what kind of books do you like, other than Tolstoy of course?" Becker left her and wandered through the shelves of books and returned with 'Shakespeare's: Henry VIII'.

"Shakespeare?" She said incredulously. "You like Shakespeare?" Becker sat on the floor and started reading.

"It is as you sayeth." Sarah giggled.

"Wow, the funny side of the stoic..._'somethin'_ Alex Becker. Don't see that very often." Becker lost his smile and frowned.

"Don't get used to it." But then he smiled again. She laughed and plopped down next to him, a copy of 'Alice in Wonderland' in her hands.

"You ever read this?" She asked him.

"No."

"Well, it's about this girl who enters a strange land and is surrounded by many strange creatures and must find her way home."

"Sounds very familiar."

"Yes. Yes it is. There was even a mini-series on the telly called 'Alice' that I saw some time back. Alice wasn't a little girl in this rendition; she and Hatter fell in love. Clever show. Now that I think about it, Hatter did look strangely familiar...."

She closed her book and looked at him. She felt she had gained a deeper bond with him today than before, knowing some about his history and him saving her life.

"Do you want tell me your first name?" She hoped with all her heart that he had learned to trust her now. Becker frowned, and Sarah sighed, knowing what his reply would be.

"No."

"Will you ever tell me?"

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know, someday." Sarah just shook her head and opened her book back up. They were both silent as they read their separate books: Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII' and 'Alice in Wonderland'.

**I'm sorry, I couldn't resist adding that allusion to "Alice" I love that show, especially Hatter :D**


	11. Chapter 10: Back to the Future Again!

Chapter X: Back to the Future...Again!

_Last time: Abby, Connor and Danny discover they are in the past of a separate dimension, when the Pteranadon and the Argnathous are attacking and where Claudia Brown exists. Helen finds them and learns she dies in the future, but Danny prevents her from escaping by accidentally knocking her out. They cannot leave her, because she would try to prevent her death, so Abby has the idea to take the unconscious Helen back to the future to get Claudia Becker's help._

* * *

Abby, Connor, Danny, and the unconscious Helen all made it back safely to the future ARC and were now trying to get Claudia Becker's attention without being seen by anyone else. When she saw Connor's head peeking through the visible window of the arboretum, she hurriedly ran inside.

"What are you guys doing back here? It's the middle of the day!" She stopped and her eyes opened wide when she saw Helen. She pointed her finger accusingly. "Why, did you bring _her_ here?" She said with disgust. Abby could tell that Claudia already knew who Helen was and that she wanted nothing to do with her.

"Claudia, we need your help, Helen's seen us and she wants to change her future. Do you have anything like a short memory wipe or something like that?" Claudia still wasn't pleased but she nodded her head.

"Yes, we developed something like that a few years ago to protect against eyewitnesses who wanted to shut us down."

"Can we have some for her?"

"Yes, letting her go without it could be disastrous." She walked to the door but stopped before she opened it, without turning back at them. "Do you have memories you want to implant in her mind from someone else?" Abby gulped nervously.

"Yes, mine." Claudia slowly cocked her head, as if displeased, but remained silent, and walked out the door.

Once she was by herself she started thinking.

_"I shouldn't be helping them, this is all wrong. If Lester finds out she'll have my head. What should I do? Oh mum, I wish you were here right now. You always knew the answer to everything. Abby said she could bring you back. You always said to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences. Even if that is changing the future and saving the world. _She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't see Nicholas Temple heading straight for her. She collided into him, nearly knocking herself over.

"Nicholas!" She shouted out of surprise. "Oh, Nick, I'm sorry, I guess I had my mind on other things." Nick gently grabbed her side and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, babe, you alright?" She slowly pushed his arms off.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Anything you need my help with?" She gazed up into his bright brown eyes gazing innocently at her, his blond hair nearly covering his ears completely.

"Um...no" she stammered. When he was silent she walked down the hall away from him. Nick furrowed his eyebrows. She wasn't usually like this with him, usually she was open and sharing with whatever was going on.

"_Something must be wrong." _He thought. He decided to follow her. He watched her walk into a room off the right hand side. "_Memory Alterations? Now what would she want in there?" _Through the tiny window on the doors he watched her grab two syringes and filled one with a blue liquid, the other with red. "_Memory Extractors and Memory Duplicators. This is getting more and more strange." _She then put the syringes down and grabbed four white lab coats. When she was satisfied that everything was ready, she quickly ran to the door and opened it. But Nick wasn't ready for her sudden move and fell to the floor.

"Nicholas!" She yelled for the second time that day. "What are you doing? Were you spying on me!?"

"Well." He stammered. "What were you doing in Memory Alterations?" He said from his fallen position. Claudia sighed.

"Nothing, Nick. Nothing." She started to walk away when Nick jumped up and grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't hide things from me, Claudia," He warned. "you're not like this." She slumped her shoulders. Once Nick put his mind to something, he wouldn't give up. Abby Temple had told her that their son was a lot like his namesake: Nick Cutter, stubborn and obstinate. Claudia wished she had known this Nick, Abby and Connor always spoke so highly of him.

"Okay, but you can't tell _anyone._" She motioned for Nicholas to be silent and walked back to the Arboretum. "Stay outside for now." She told him. She walked into the room and threw the lab coats to Danny, Connor and Abby. She hesitated.

"Claudia, what is it?" Abby asked her.

"Well, umm, my friend, Nicholas, he knows we're up to something, so I was hoping he could meet you, so he won't get suspicious. I know he can help us if we tell him the truth." Danny grumbled but gave the go ahead. Claudia opened the door and Nick slid in. His eyes were wide open when he saw the three of them.

"Mum, Dad?" He whispered. Abby blushed and Connor smiled. "Mr. Quinn?" Danny came up and shook his hand heartily.

"Nick, they're from the past, they're trying to stop the destruction of the earth." Nick nodded his head. "We need to get all four of them to the MA room without being seen."

"Four?" Danny pointed to Helen, still soundly "asleep". "Oh." Claudia motioned for them to put the lab coats on and follow her out. They wrapped Helen so she didn't look like a human, rather, like a large bundle of laundry.

Surprisingly, they made it safely to the MA room without a hitch. She flicked on a switch and two metal beds slid down from the wall halfway, at about an angle of 60 degrees. The beds had restraints on them to prevent the occupants from moving. Nicholas strapped Helen into one of them while Claudia helped Abby get in the other one. She tightened the restraints.

"Is it necessary to restrain me?" Abby was getting more nervous by the second. Claudia looked her right in the eye.

"Abby, I have to warn you, this is going to be painful, you need these restraints to keep you from trying to get out." Abby felt a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt Connor's hand grab hers.

"I'm here Abby, everything will be alright, you'll be just fine." She gave him a weak smile.

"I sure hope so." Claudia grabbed the syringe filled with the red liquid and went to Helen first. She attached a small wire to Helen's wrist that connected to a small computer sitting on a nearby table.

"Signaling out Time Indexes from August 30th 2011, 214.2 through 216.8." Nick said, reading the information on the computer. "Preparing to extract." Abby turned her head and closed her eyes as Claudia took the syringe and inserted it into Helen's left temple and drained the red liquid. Helen trembled slightly, as if in pain. "Time indexes 214.2-216.8 extracted."

"She has now forgotten ever meeting you or trying to escape to change her future." She grabbed the blue syringe and walked over to Abby. "Try to concentrate on the events you want Helen to remember. Though they may come back to you anyway, it'll give you something to take your mind off the pain." She hooked Abby's wrist to the computer.

"Preparing to duplicate Time Indexes 214.9 through 217.0." Abby shut her eyes tightly as she felt the syringe enter her left temple. She started trembling as a sharp tingling sensation ran through her body. Beads of sweat ran down the sides of her face as she tried to concentrate and keep control. Connor winced as her grip nearly tried to crush his hand. Her eyes flew open as the indicated time indexes ran through her head in a blur. She saw everything as if it were happening at light speed. Claudia, the Pterosaurs, the Kitchen, the explosion, it was all there. It was almost too much for her. Connor jumped up as she started shaking violently.

"She's not supposed to be like this!" he yelled angrily. Danny and Nicholas came over and forced him away from Abby.

"Yes, this is normal, just wait a bit, it's almost done." The last thing Abby saw in her mind was her crumpled form on the floor after the explosion, and then it was all over.

* * *

Her breath was very rapid and she was shivering as if she was cold, but she was okay. Connor pushed the hands off that were restraining him and walked back over to Abby quietly when he saw her eyes were open.

"Hey." Connor said softly. "You did it, look." She slowly turned her head and watched her duplicated time indexes being inserted into Helen's memories through the connection that Claudia had placed between her and Helen. Nicholas came over and removed Abby's restraints. She tried to stand on her own but fell into Connor's arms.

"I can't feel my legs." She whimpered.

"You will soon, give it time. You've just been through a huge ordeal. Not many can take that the way you did. You're a very strong woman. I'm proud you're my mum. . .or at least will be." She smiled weakly, both at his compliment and her own pride of her accomplishment. Connor moved wet strands of hair from her face to behind her ear. She looked up at him and he smiled.

"Hey guys, check this out." Claudia motioned for them to come to the computer. Abby's eyes opened wide as she saw her own memories being played back. This time, through the eyes of Helen.

"It worked." She said weakly. Claudia turned and smiled at her.

"The good thing about these tests is that there's a very fast recovery. I'd say you'll be back to normal in about twenty minutes, which is good, because you need to get Helen back to the scene of her last memory before she wakes up." Abby already felt better than she did a few minutes ago. She could already stand on her own two legs again, even though she was still a little weak.

**Do you like the "Last Time" parts I put at the beginning? I know I always liked to watch them when the Primeval shows were on. :) After the team says goodbye, they will finally attempt the rescue to save their old friend so he can find a way to stop the destruction of the earth!! :)**


	12. Chapter 11: Goodbyes

Chapter XI: Goodbyes

Danny, Connor and Nicholas were talking quietly, so Abby slowly walked over to Claudia, who was sitting silently by herself.

"Can I ask you one thing before we go?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you know why your parents named you Claudia?"

"Well, I think my mother saw the name in a strange book somewhere, she liked the sound of it, so here I am, Claudia Becker." She smiled sadly.

"Did she know anyone else by that name?"

"No, I don't think so, why?"

"Oh, no reason." Both were silent for a moment.

"How old was...is my mother in your time?" Claudia asked nervously.

"I think she's around 29."

"Good, still a few years until I'm born." Danny and Connor stood up.

"Abby, we've gotta go."

"All right guys." She stood up too. "Thanks again, Claudia, and you Nick." She went up to her future son and put both of her hands on the sides of his head and for the last time looked deep into those eyes that reminded her so much of Connor. Slowly a tear slid down her cheek. She embraced him warmly before holding him at arm's length.

"Don't you even _think _of disobeying your parents even once!" She laughed. "They went through too much already trying to get together."

Danny sputtered into a fit of laughter and Connor slapped him soundly on the arm. Connor then awkwardly gave his future son a hug.

They said their last goodbyes before returning to the separate dimension's past. Connor went inside the hotel and placed Helen in the exact position he had found Abby after the explosion. When everything was settled, Connor opened an anomaly that would return them to their own time, in their own dimension. Home.

* * *

Soon they found themselves back on the race track in the present.

"Where do we go next, Connor?" Danny asked him. Thankfully, Lester's men had left the area, so they had no fear of being spotted.

"Back to the ARC."

"Why?"

"Because it's time to bring back an old friend." He smiled and started to walk away when Danny grabbed his arm.

"Connor, what we're doing, is this right? I mean, we should let nature take it's course." Connor turned back around and frowned.

"It was never nature's intention for people to die by the anomalies, Danny, especially by the creatures that have come through. Whatever used to be considered order is now chaos because of the anomalies messing up time in the first place. If it wasn't for the creatures, Stephen, Cutter, they would still be alive, Countless others: my friend Tom, Johnson, Captain Ryan, Helen, Leek, Clau..." he stopped, shocked at what just came out of his mouth. He saw the look of horror on Danny's face. He placed his head in his hands. "Danny, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean..." Danny was hurt.

"Jenny..." he whispered. "We never would've met Jenny." He was horrified by the thought. He couldn't imagine a life without meeting Jenny.

Abby came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright Danny, we know how much you love and miss her." He quickly pushed her hand off his shoulder.

"Did love her, Abby, did love her. After all, she's the one that left us." He stood up and turned away bitterly and started walking. "You're right, Connor. Order _has_ become chaos. It's our job to make it right."

He turned around and smiled at them, regaining his humorous front. "You guys coming?" Abby turned to look at Connor, who merely shrugged.

"Sure, comin'."

**Did you catch the allusion to the episode with the "strange book"? Helen's book? If not, watch Series 3 Episode 9 again! Next up, the team attempts to rescue an "old friend" from certain death!**


	13. Chapter 12: Operation: Nick Cutter!

**Finally! Someone we have all missed terribly!**

Chapter XII: Operation: Nick Cutter

Connor stood of the ARC fiddling with the Anomaly Creator.

"Guys, I think it's finally set."

"Okay, what's the plan?" Danny motioned for them to huddle together.

"Well, we can't actually prevent his death, that would change the time line in ways we could not imagine. We have to give the appearance that he's dead, but take him through the anomaly into our time."

"Sounds reasonable enough. How are we supposed to do that? Danny asked.

"Can't we use the clone in some way?" Connor immediately squashed Abby's idea.

"The clone is too close to activate the bomb, no chance to survive the blast. Also, before he died, Cutter told me some things, mainly about the artifact and it's importance. I remember the last words out of his mouth were Claudia Brown. He really did love her." Danny changed the subject.

"So what are we gonna do?" Connor grabbed his backpack and pulled out a bullet proof vest.

"Where did you get that?" said Danny.

"Compliments of the future!" Connor smirked but Danny shook his head.

"So we are preventing his death?" Connor frowned in confusion.

"Umm, yeah...I've got to talk to him before so he'll make everybody believe that he's dead." He grabbed the anomaly creator. "I'm setting it to the morning of Cutter's death." He hit a button and an anomaly opened, shining bright.

"Sometimes I wish I had stayed a cop." Danny said. "It's a lot less stressful."

"Oh come on!" Abby grabbed his hand and pulled him through the anomaly after Connor.

* * *

Once they were through, Danny and Abby decided to stay hidden while Connor took off to find Cutter before it was too late.

* * *

At the entrance to the ARC, Connor saw his past self enter the building followed by the Abby from the past. Cutter was just about to follow them in when the present Connor whispered loudly.

"Cutter!" Nick looked around and saw Connor behind the side of the building. He ran over to where he was at, safely hidden from the guards.

"Connor! Wait...didn't you just go inside the ARC?" he said rather loudly.

"Shh! Please, professor, keep your voice down, I don't want to change the time line!"

"Excuse me?" He replied still rather loudly. Connor winced.

"I'm from the future!"

"The what?" he replied incredulously.

"Cutter, Abby and Danny Quinn and I are here to prevent your death."

"Death?"

"Helen has taken over the ARC. At this very moment she is planning your demise. In about an hour she'll set off a bomb that will destroy the ARC. When you go back in to save her she'll shoot you."

"Helen would never shoot me."

"Yes she will, trust me, I was there when you died." Cutter put a hand to his forehead.

"This is all really hard to believe, Connor, or whoever you are."

"Cutter, you have to trust me, everything I've said is true."

"Then why exactly are you here?"

"We need your help in the future. No one I know has the knowledge and the skills that you have."

"You can't prevent my death, that will change the time line."

"Yes, well, we aren't actually going to change the time line, you still must give the appearance that you are dead."

"That's ridiculous, how am I supposed to do that?" Connor pulled out the bullet proof vest he had brought. "I don't know Connor, this is all too strange." He handed the vest back to Connor. "No thanks, I'll let fate play it's hand in this." He started to walk away.

"Nononono Cutter, please, you have to, I believe everything you said, I've seen Claudia!" Cutter immediately stopped at the mention of her name. He did not turn around, but spoke.

"Claudia? You've seen Claudia Brown?" He began to sweat. Was it true? His lost love still somewhere out there?

"Yes, and I've seen how much she loved you. The world is heading for destruction, and you're the only one who can stop it!" Cutter turned back to him silently and grabbed the vest from Connor's hands. His whole demeanor had changed with the name of Claudia ringing in his mind, her face smiling in his thoughts. Even after two years the image was still clear as day. This whole time, he had stayed devoted to her, clinging to her memory. He began to walk inside the ARC when Connor stopped him.

"Wait, Cutter, you have to make everybody believe that you are dead, even Helen. When everybody's out of the building we'll come get you."

"Alright, Connor, anything else?"

"Yes, you said some things to me before you died. You told me how important it was to find out the meaning of the artifact, which spurred me on to unlock the puzzle inside."

"Artifact?"

"You'll find out. Helen has it right now. Also, you died with Claudia Brown's name on your lips."

"_How appropriate." _He thought.

"And," Connor continued, "you have to get my past self out of the building without you so we can switch you with the clone."

"Clone?!" He nearly yelled incredulously. What else did he not know?

"Yeah, you'll find that out too." Cutter's head was swimming with all the things Connor had said to him. Claudia Brown, clones, Claudia Brown, artifacts, Claudia Brown, Claudia Brown...Connor broke his reverie.

"Good luck, Cutter, see you soon." Cutter placed his arm on Connor's shoulder and smiled.

"Thanks, Connor."

**Later I will go into more detail on how Cutter has stayed devoted to Claudia, don't worry, I know all about how Jenny felt for Nick, I'm going to explain that too, I'll take her feelings into account :)**


	14. Chapter 13: Cutter's Supposed Death

**Due to popular demand, here is chapter 13, earlier than planned(I was planning on waiting another day to raise the suspense, but I decided not to :)) I figured Nick's reaction to Helen's gun in his face would be different if he knew he was not going to die, so the first scene is a *little bit different.**

Chapter XIII: Cutter's "Death"

Everything had happened just as Connor had said. Helen and her clones managed to infiltrate the ARC, the clone of Cutter set off a bomb that killed him and blew up the ARC, and now Helen had a gun pointed at him, prepared to fire.

"The Future's still more important than either of us, Nick." She shouted at him.

"Killing me is not gonna solve this, Helen, let me help you." He knew she would never accept his help, but it was worth a try.

"No, Nick, you're the one that starts it all. You must be stopped. Sorry, Nick." She pulled the gun back and cocked it, then aimed it at Nick's chest. All was silent when she hesitated to pull the trigger. Nick could tell she was having a hard time trying to kill her husband. He decided to help her along.

"You know, Helen, you're not as smart as I thought you once were."

That did it. Helen had no trouble now. He heard the gunshot ring out and felt a huge force hit him in the chest. Despite the bullet proof vest that Helen didn't know about, he was knocked over backwards, winded and in pain. He tried to get up again but he remembered he was supposed to "play dead". He fell back down, his breath laboring in short rasps. _"Man, I didn't realize how much it hurts to be shot, even with a vest on. I'll have to thank Connor later, without this on this would hurt like hell!" _

He lay there until he saw Helen leave, satisfied that he was dead. He kept still, for how long he wasn't sure. When Connor entered the room, Nick saw the shock and horror that registered on his face. "_This must be Connor from the present." _He thought. So he told Connor about the artifact and it's importance before faking a cough."Connor, you've got to go get help." he said weakly.

"I'm not leaving you, Cutter." Connor replied adamantly. It broke Cutter's heart seeing Connor this distressed. He briefly considered giving up the silly charade when he remembered her.

"Claudia Brown." he whispered. He remembered what he had to do.

"Connor, go get help now, there may be others in here who may also need help." Connor looked hesitant, then tried to pick him up to carry him outside, but Cutter pushed his arms off, faking a bout of pain. "No, Connor, I'll be okay, everything will be alright, in time." Connor stood up to leave. He kept his eyes open so Connor would know he was still alive until he was sure he was alone.

* * *

Connor and Abby had to crawl once again through the ventilation system in order to help Nick. They had moved the debris away from the arboretum's door while they waited until the coast was clear.

* * *

Danny was safely hidden outside the ARC. He had seen the team from the past gather outside before Cutter was shot. They were all there: Sarah, Becker, Lester, Nick, Connor, Abby, Jenny.

He watched Jenny closely, thankful that he had a chance to see her again. Her dark red hair cascaded down her back and around her face, which was covered by dirt. He still thought she was beautiful. He had seen the anguish on her face when Nick reentered the building and she tried to stop him. He wanted so much to gaze into her eyes and see her gazing back at him again, along with many other things, but he knew that wasn't possible, no matter how much he wanted it.

* * *

When he was sure he was alone, Cutter stood up and removed the bullet proof vest, marveling at the bullet that was heading right for his heart, but was stopped. With Abby and Connor's help they found the clone and placed him in the same position he had been previously. He even placed his jacket on the clone to make it even more believable.

"Hope nobody notices that this one hasn't been shot." Cutter was glad Connor never suggested shooting the clone, because he would not consent to that, even if he was dead. He looked at the splitting image of him sadly.

"He was a human being. He did make a choice, if only he hadn't died the way he did." Suddenly Danny's voice cracked in over the radio.

"Guys, make it quick, the team's comin' back in." The three of them scrambled to make it out of the main room. After they were safely out the past Connor ran in followed closely by Jenny, Abby and Becker.

The present Connor through the window watched the past Connor pick up the clone and carry him out. A tear came to his eye when he remembered the grief he himself had experienced at this moment a year ago, although under slightly different circumstances.

"It's not right for them to think he's dead, but yet. . .it is. I can't explain it." Nick came up behind him and put his hand on Connor's shoulder. Connor looked up at him and smiled, wiping the tear from his eye.

"Come on Connor, we've got a world to save."

**Next up, some more gushy fluffy Secker moments :) (Don't worry, there will be some Conby fluff too, soon :))**


	15. Chapter 14: The Smell of Kiwi Shampoo

**I had to have it kiwi, because I absolutely love that smell :)  
**

Chapter XIV: The Smell of Kiwi Shampoo

_Last time: In the library, after avoiding Lester's demands to come back to the ARC, Becker grabs "Shakespeare's Henry VIII" and Sarah grabs "Alice in Wonderland" and they settle down to read their separate books together, Sarah still not knowing Becker's first name._

* * *

Sarah had accidentally fallen asleep on Becker's chest, her book open on her lap. Becker had given up a while ago reading as he could not turn the pages of his book without disturbing her peaceful slumber. Normally he would be very uncomfortable with this kind of contact, but considering she was asleep and they were alone, he let her be. They had experienced a special connection that recently bloomed over the past few hours.

Becker sighed and inhaled the lovely smell of kiwi shampoo that emanated from her long shiny black hair. He realized he had special feelings for this woman. Sarah groaned in her sleep as she tried to change position.

Suddenly, the anomaly sealer beeped, signaling that the anomaly was about to close. Sarah opened her eyes and quickly stood up startled.

"Oh gosh, sorry Becker, I didn't mean, I know how much you hate. . ." Becker stood up and put a finger on her lips, shushing quietly.

"I love you." He murmured as he pulled her to his lips. She gasped in sweet surprise as she returned his loving kiss. There they stayed, lips locked until the anomaly sealer beeped again. Slowly they broke apart.

Sarah blushed as she realized this was the first intimate moment they had shared. She smiled sleepily, hoping this was not a dream. Becker laughed at her smile and she yawned.

"Better get that anomaly sealer shut off so the anomaly can close properly."

"Right." She said groggily and rubbed her eyes. She hit a few buttons then slammed the big red button on the AS and the anomaly returned to its normal state before flickering and closing. Becker sighed with relief.

"Glad we have seen the last of that. . .Joseph. . .Monesi. . .thing." he stumbled on his words.

"Josephoartigasia Monesi." Sarah stated with a smug look on her face.

"Show off!" She laughed at his remark. "Seriously, I don't know how you remember this kind of stuff. I can barely remember my grocery lists! You're becoming more and more like Connor every day."

"Are you okay with that?" She smiled.

"No, not particularly, he's not my type." Sarah laughed even harder, unwittingly transfixing Becker's gaze to her smile, her rose red lips. "I love it when you smile like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're anticipating something." A look of surprise registered on her face. They leaned in for a second kiss but this time were interrupted by Becker's cell going off. He restrained himself from cursing as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He uncaringly glanced at the screen of his phone and shoved it back into his pocket without shutting it off.

"Lester?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, now, where were we?" He leaned in close to kiss her again but Sarah reluctantly stopped him.

"Becker, you should answer that, Lester may have news on Connor, Abby, and Danny. Becker frowned at her and unwillingly answered his phone.

"Captain Becker here." he said professionally, causing Sarah to shake with silent laughter.

"Becker." came Lester's voice. "Danny, Abby and Connor have returned from the their so-called mission and have brought. . .er, a friend."

"The anomaly's just closed sir, we're on our way."

"Splendid! I'll inform them that you are coming." Becker hung up and Sarah looked at him expectantly.

"They're back." He said, bracing himself. She jumped up and down excitingly and clapped her hands together. Suddenly, she grabbed his wrist and prepared to drag him out the door.

"Wait, Sarah." he hesitated.

"What?"

"I don't. . .I don't really mind you calling me Alex anymore." She smiled.

"Ready to tell me your first name yet?" She was more anxious to find that out than seeing her friends, sadly.

"No, not yet, but I will someday, I promise." She tried to frown but was too excited. She ran out the door shouting

"Come on, Alex!!" Becker groaned and immediately regretted his decision.

**After this, Nick slowly becomes the main character. Also, I hope Sarah's not too OOC, being so energetic and slightly irritating, but we hardly know her, and so I took a little license and decided to develop her character a bit(Becker's too). Hope that's okay. Next up, Nick now works on finding a way to prevent the destruction of the world, while Abby drags Connor on yet another rescue mission! :D**


	16. Chapter 15: Always By My Side

**The paragraph _in italics _is a flashback in Nick's mind.**

Chapter XV: Always By My Side

_Last time: Danny, Abby, and Connor save the life of the Professor and bring him a little more than a year into his future, into the present. Becker kissed Sarah and said he loved her before Lester called them to tell them the good news. Sarah still hasn't learned Becker's first name yet!_

_

* * *

_Cutter, Abby, Connor and Danny had made it back to the ARC to a very surprised James Lester. For the first time he was lost for words as Cutter shook his hand heartily. Then Connor dragged Cutter over to look on his notes from his study he had left behind. He was very excited to show his mentor what he had accomplished in the time he was gone.

"Just wait 'til you see the Anomaly Sealer, Professor, it's the coolest thing!" Cutter grinned. He had been told that he had been dead for a year, but to Cutter it would feel like nothing had changed, except for this 'anomaly sealer' and Danny Quinn being one of the team. He had even noticed that Connor and Abby were closer than before. He sensed they were to become a permanent couple soon.

He sadly thought of Jenny.

_Back in the past after Helen had shot him with the bullet proof vest on, the four of them were forced to wait ten minutes for the anomaly creator to work again, so Cutter was introduced to Danny and the two of them caught up on both of their sides of the ARC team: Cutter's viewpoint from the past and Danny's from the present._

Danny had told him of Jenny's departure from the ARC, which had disappointed Cutter greatly. He never had any feelings for her whatsoever, but he had grown to appreciate her as a friend.

Even though they had gotten over their differences a long time ago, he still felt a twinge of sadness every time he looked into her eyes and saw the Claudia Brown he could never have, the Claudia he loved with all his heart, the Claudia he still dreamed about, the woman who he was denied from ever seeing again.

_It had been heartbreaking for him when he first met Jenny. Her soft, warm eyes and sweet smile were still the same, but she wasn't Claudia. Everything else was strange to him. Her hair was much darker, in stark contrast to Claudia's light brown. Jenny also wore more makeup, her clothes were abstract and very revealing; the latest fashions. At least Claudia had carried a sense of modesty, something Cutter admired in women. Even their personalities were vastly different. It was if his Claudia had morphed into this uncaring, PR representative. She didn't share their memories or even care about him, much less love him._

_True, Jenny had changed the more he got to know her; she became more modest and open to him. She even became more gentle in spirit, a trait of Claudia's. But that still never changed his feelings for her, it might've made it more impossible. No matter how hard she tried, she could never be Claudia._

Cutter hated himself for thinking those words, it was not Jenny's fault, none of it was. But that didn't lessen the pain. He had still never forgotten Claudia after all this time, as if her whole being was imprinted in his memory.

He then remembered with a surge of hope that Connor had said he had seen Claudia. He knew he was not crazy, he knew Claudia Brown had existed at one time.

His thoughts were interrupted when he realized he had just missed all what Connor had just said. He feigned weariness and told Connor to continue.

* * *

Outside, Becker had parked the truck back to the ARC. Outside the front door he stopped Sarah before she could rush inside.

"Sarah, be easy on them, they're all probably tired from their journey." Sarah sighed, composed herself and walked in calmly alongside Becker. It didn't do any good though.

As soon as she walked through the main doors and saw Cutter, she shrieked loudly and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms. Nick picked her up happily and spun her around. After setting her down Becker came up and shook hands with him heartily.

Cutter and Quinn were getting along famously as friends. They had many of the same interests, such as drinking coffee early in the morning and the mysterious woman who was Jenny Lewis/Claudia Brown.

After stories were shared among them, it was already getting well on to evening. Nick locked himself in his office with his notes to figure out a plan to stop the on-coming destruction of the earth while Danny, Sarah and Becker called it a night. Connor was about to leave too when Abby came up holding the Anomaly Creator.

"There's one more thing we gotta do, Connor" Connor remembered Abby's comment earlier about Cutter and Stephen being an unstoppable team. He tried to stop her.

"No Abby, don't do this." She turned on him with anger.

"What? You don't want Stephen back?"

"Yes, of course I want Stephen back but. . ." He paused

"But what?"

"Abby, he made the right choice by sacrificing himself for us, he redeemed himself for aligning with Helen." Abby's face contorted with rage.

"How dare you say that!" She shouted loudly. "You don't redeem yourself by committing suicide! You redeem yourself by correcting your wrong doings, which he did by coming back for Nick and us in that abandoned warehouse." Connor didn't mention that Stephen actually came back for Helen, it would just make her more angry. Instead he said

"But Abby, his presence may cause strife for Cutter, we can't afford that now." Abby's eyes suddenly registered shock.

"You're making excuses! It's more than that!" her eyes opened wide, "You think I'm still in love with him, and you're jealous! You'd rather have him dead than to lose me!!"

"What? Wait, no, Abby!" She walked away from him shouting

"I'm bringing him back Connor, whether you want me to or not!" She reached the door, turning back to face him. "For your information, Connor, I don't love Stephen anymore!" With that she slammed the doors behind her, hard. Connor stood there, dumbfounded at what she had said to him. With a start, he realized the love of his life had just left on a very dangerous mission by herself.

* * *

Outside, Abby took a few deep breaths. She hated herself for yelling at Connor like that, he didn't deserve it. She knew she had accused him falsely of being jealous, and a tear ran down her eye as she realized she had probably just put up another roadblock in their relationship. She didn't mean to explode at him like that, it just came out before she knew what was happening.

She stood by one of the Hilux tracks and prepared to open the door, but she couldn't. Tears ran down her face and sobs racked her body, remembering all the good times she and Connor had shared that now seemed a distant memory. She knew she was crying also because of her overactive emotions from shouting at Connor.

She did not hear the hurried steps behind her.

Suddenly she was jerked around and was face to face with Connor Temple. For the first time in her life she became afraid of him, remembering the horrible things she had said to him, but Connor, fully out of character, quickly forced her lips to his. They were both silent as emotions coursed through the both of them. Guilt, anger, sadness, love, happiness. It was if they had become one, and nothing could separate them. Finally, they both stopped for air.

"I love you, Abbs." he whispered.

"I love you too, Connor. I'm sorry." came the soft reply.

"I came to help you bring Stephen back. I'll always be by your side, no matter what." Abby leapt up and hugged him.

"Thanks, Connor, you don't know how glad it makes me to hear you say that." She climbed inside the driver's seat.

"I think I might." he said with a big goofy smile on his face as he ran to the other side of the truck.

"What was that?" Abby called over the truck.

"Nothing, dear." His smile got bigger, knowing now there were no barriers between them now.

**Yayy, finally, Connor kissed Abby!! (Last time it was Abby kissing Connor lol) **


	17. Chapter 16: Operation: Stephen Hart Pt 1

Chapter XVI: Operation Stephen Hart Pt. 1

"You know, Abby, this one's gonna be a lot tougher than last time. It won't be as easy not to mess up the past."

"I know Connor, I think we can do this."

"Do you have a plan?" He looked at her expectantly.

"Of course I do." They were already in the past, before Stephen's death. She pulled a strange whistle out of her pocket.

"Picked this up over at Wellington Zoo. It's supposed to deter the predators. Works great on lions when trying to feed them. It may not work for all the creatures, but it'll give us a fairer fight."

"I brought something too." Connor pulled out a gun with a silencer.

"Nice!" Abby smiled at him and they high-fived. Abby resisted her impulse to ask for the gun, trusting Connor to handle this one, knowing that he had improved in his skill since training with Becker.

* * *

Connor had found another entrance to the room where Stephen was killed. It was an hour before his death.

"If I remember correctly, the only time he was alone was when he first arrived outside the building, which could be any minute now." Connor said.

"Let me handle this one okay Connor?" She put her hand on his shoulder. "You stay here. Be on the look out for predators."

"Okay Abby." He said nervously. She took off to find Stephen before it was too late.

* * *

Stephen parked his truck in front of the old abandoned building where Helen had told him to go. He pulled the key from the ignition. He then placed his arms on the steering wheel and placed his head in his arms. He sighed with grief. He still could not believe that all his friends were dead as Helen had told him. But he trusted her because he had to. He knew his life could not get any worse that at this very moment.

His life started going downhill when Helen had returned and he took her word over Cutter's. He hated himself for his weakness for Helen, and with it, his betrayal of Nick. With the death of his friends he had just hit rock bottom.

He now had nothing to live for. He regretted joining Helen, for letting her come between he and Nick's friendship. How he wished he could take it all back and be one of the team again. But he knew that was impossible now, unless a miracle happened. The only reason he came here to meet Helen was to take revenge on Lester for the murder of his comrades.

He climbed out of the car, his mind swimming in anger, guilt, frustration and sadness. So deep was he in his thoughts that he barely heard someone say his name.

* * *

Abby had watched Stephen from her hiding place outside. Her heart broke as she watched a single tear slide down his cheek as he climbed out of the car. _"He thinks we're all dead. He still cares for us." _She contemplated. She had to tell him the truth.

"Stephen!" She whispered multiple times until she got his attention.

"Abby!" He cried out. He ran over and hugged her, lifting her up off the ground with ease. She marveled at his gentle strength. "You're alive!" He cried with relief. "I thought you were dead."

"Stephen, listen, I'm from the future." Stephen put her down, startled and confused.

"The what?" He was unaware he had just mirrored Nick's reaction to that very same statement.

"Yes, everything Helen has told you is a lie. We're all alive, Lester's on our side, and Helen's the one behind the creatures being here, along with Leek."

"Leek? How'd that spineless worm ever accomplish anything?" Abby laughed at his disgust of Oliver Leek.

"Tell me what you really think about him."

"So why are you here if you're from the future?" Stephen asked her.

"Stephen, in an hour, you, Nick and Helen find a way to get all the escaped creatures in one room but the door will malfunction and have to be closed from the inside. You will sacrifice yourself by locking yourself in with the creatures." Stephen stayed silent. "We're here to prevent your death." He wasn't too pleased.

"Cutter wouldn't like that, it would change the timeline."

"We'd make it so nothing would change, You have to make everybody believe you are dead." Stephen shook his head.

"No Abby, I can't do it, I have nothing to live for. I'd rather die than to keep living a lie." Abby didn't agree with him.

"No, Stephen, you _do_ have so much to live for, you're still young, you can find love, follow your dreams, make everything right. We've all forgiven you for aligning with Helen, she tricked you. You don't have to die for some mistaken sense of guilt. You can't escape your problems by doing this!" by the look on Stephen's face at that last remark, she knew she had hit a sore spot on his ego.

"I'm not escaping my problems!" He shouted at her. Abby inwardly smiled. She had him right where she wanted.

"Yes you are! By not allowing us to help you now and instead dying, you're abandoning us, shirking your responsibilities." She knew it wasn't all true, but he had to hear it. "I'll be frank, Stephen, Cutter needs your help to stop the destruction of the earth. We all miss you, Stephen, please come back!" Stephen turned away from her, obviously thinking hard.

"All right, Abby, I'll do it." Abby squealed with delight and kissed his cheek in a sisterly-like way, sliding the whistle into his hand.

"Connor and I will be waiting in the side entrance. Blow the whistle when you're sure _nobody _is watching. Then run out the door and Connor will take care of the stragglers."

"Connor?" He looked worried.

"He's gotten better with his shot over time, don't worry." She laughed.

"Must have practiced a lot." he muttered under his breath. "Anything else I need to know?"

"Just make sure you give the appearance that you're dead, and don't tell anybody what you now know."

"Thanks Abby, for saving my life." he hugged her again then walked inside, feeling a new hope in his heart.

**Please review!**


	18. Chapter 17: Operation: Stephen Hart Pt 2

**Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, the Easter Holidays had me really busy! :) **

Chapter XVII: Operation: Stephen Hart Pt II

_Last time: Abby and Connor travel to the past to prevent Stephen's death. Abby gave him a special whistle and ran inside to wait with Connor..._

_

* * *

_Things happened so quickly, it had been easy to go along with Helen and Cutter inside without them suspecting anything. When Nick made the startling realization that he door wouldn't shut, Stephen knew that was his cue.

* * *

A few moments later he found himself in the room surrounded by predators, the food klaxon sounded loudly. He fingered the whistle in his pocket nervously as sweat dripped off his brow. An Arthopleura and a few future predators loomed over him while the Smilodon, two Raptors and a Silurian Scorpion circled around him and a few Mer came flying through the doors expecting to be fed.

He stared at Cutter until he saw him fall to the ground in grief and horror, unable to watch his best friend die.

Stephen quickly took the whistle out and blew it as hard as he could. No sound came out but clearly it affected most of the creatures. The Future Predators, the Raptors, the Smilodon, and the Mer fell back, most of them screeching with pain. Hopefully, Cutter would mistake the creatures' cries out of pleasure, not pain. The Arthopleura and the Scorpion were the only ones that seemed unaffected. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Connor and Abby motioning for him to run. He ran for the door but was blocked by the creatures unaffected by the whistle. He heard a *pfff* and the Scorpion fell back angry, it's hard shell deflecting the bullet.

"Stephen!" Abby yelled. He dodged to the ground as he found himself battling the Arthopleura once again. Connor continued firing at the scorpion who was now advancing on him and Abby. Finally, he hit a soft spot in it's armor and it fell over, wounded. But Stephen had been trapped in a corner. He cursed as the giant centipede sunk its' fangs into his shoulder.

"Not again. . ." he whispered as he slid to the ground. He barely heard the gun fire and watched as the centipede fall to the ground, dead.

"Stephen!" Abby cried out and ran over to him. He laughed quietly, then burst into a fit of coughs.

"What were the chances that I'd get bitten by the same bug?" He coughed again. "Looks like I'm gonna die after all."

"No, Stephen, you're not going to die, you beat this before, you can do it again."

"Guess I can't ask you out to dinner this time." he smiled at her.

"No, you can't" she peeked at Connor to see if he had heard. He was too busy making sure the centipede was dead.

He rushed over and picked Stephen up. As they raced out of the room memories flashed into Abby's head of the last time this had happened.

She remembered the paramedics carrying him out on on a stretcher, she remembered when Stephen told her she was beautiful and had asked her out to dinner. She remembered Claudia and Cutter asking. . .

Wait, Claudia wasn't there. Or was she? Abby tried to clear her muddled head but couldn't. It felt like all her distant memories were being changed. Maybe visiting the past had messed with her subconscious. She didn't doubt that Claudia ever existed, but she thought it was in another dimension, she thought she had never met Claudia. Maybe they were wrong, maybe instead of a separate dimension, this one had changed. She was sure Cutter would know, or at least have an explanation.

She ran after Connor, shut the door and the two of them, with Stephen in Connor's arms, fled the building, hoping the other predators would not find a way out and instead, destroy each other.

**Next up, something nobody would've guessed, something bigger and more dangerous than ****anything they've ever come across yet!**


	19. Chapter 18: Tremors Across Time

Chapter XVIII: Tremors Across Time

Abby raced across the parking lot outside the building followed close behind by Connor carrying Stephen, who struggled a bit trying to keep up. They came to a grass field and Connor laid Stephen down gently while he set the AC. Thankfully, it had had enough time to warm up already. Abby knelt by Stephen's side, who was trembling from the poison coursing through his body.

"You'll be alright Stephen, we have trained medics back at the ARC, you'll be okay." She knew he couldn't hear her but she said it for her own reassurance. She stood up next to Connor. "Can I borrow your pocket knife?"

"Yeah, sure." he reached for his pocket but stopped. "Abby? Do you feel something?" her answer was cut short as a violent earthquake knocked her off balance. She fell into Connor's arms and together they tried to keep their balance as the tremors raged on.

* * *

Back at the ARC in their dimension, Claudia Becker and Nicholas Temple gripped the table and waiting for the building to stop shaking. They sighed anxiously and continued their work.

* * *

Nick Cutter dropped his pencil with which he was taking notes meticulously when the tremors started.

When the earth was still again, he picked up the picture frame that had fallen to the floor. What had once held a picture of Helen now had a picture of he and Claudia that had remained with him through the anomaly. He gazed at the only piece of Claudia he had left, before picking up his pencil again and starting a new page of notes, taking into account the recent tremors.

* * *

Abby and Connor picked themselves up off the ground.

"I don't remember that happening here before."

"Me neither. Very strange."

"Well, I'm sure Cutter has a theory." Abby took Connor's swiss army knife and cut the sleeve of Stephen's gray t-shirt so the bite wound could be exposed. Connor grabbed the fallen AC and opened an anomaly. With one arm around each of their shoulders together they carried Stephen through.

* * *

Over the years the ARC, with it's newer and continuing technology, had created their own medical station, with information on every creature they had come across; including the wounds and casualties they had caused. This also helped lower suspicion from the local hospitals by not bringing in people with strange ailments, such as massive spider bites or huge cat-like scratches. Thankfully, they had a sample of the antidote used years ago when Stephen had gotten bit the first time. It was quickly injected into him and he was recovering rapidly. Abby stood outside the door contemplating the day's events, mainly thinking about the images of Claudia that had resurfaced in her mind. Connor, however, was thinking about something else. . .

* * *

Connor stood nervously outside Cutter's office. He knocked on the door. When he heard Cutter's okay he opened the door. He gazed around with amazement. Cutter already had over half his model put back together again. There were piles of papers each with a different theory scribbled on them. Cutter had the artifact open and was studying the brilliant masterpiece inside. He was writing on a sheet of paper, obviously working very hard to find a theory, any theory that would explain all the Past Happenings.

"Cutter." Connor said quietly. Cutter looked up from his work and smiled at him.

"Something you need Connor?"

"Just came to tell you something. Well...um, me and Abby, see, we..." he stuttered.

"Spit it out, Connor." Cutter was becoming impatient and wanted to get back to his work, so Connor said it all in a rush.

"Abby and I went back to the past to bring Stephen back, but on the way there was a ground shaking tremor, one that didn't happen before." Cutter contemplated this.

"How long ago did this happen?"

"Around 6:20 PM Sir."

"Same here. I was afraid of that."

"Why sir?"

"It seems that these earthquakes are not on a physical base, rather on a time base. It's not the earth that's falling apart, it's both time and space."

"Wow." Connor looked startled. "That would explain why we were able to go to the future and it hadn't been destroyed yet. Do you think the tremors are being caused by the anomalies?"

"No, I don't." He walked over to the open artifact's grand display. He pointed to one strand of light. "You see here Connor, every strand indicates an anomaly. But this strand is different than the others." The strand seemed to have a slight dent in it. "It signals a link with a different dimension. One thing happened that started all this."

"You think it was the escaped baby predators in the past?" _Cutter had taken a head count in the past of the dead future predators but was unable to do to anything about it at the moment._

"That may have had a part in it, but it's not the main one." he pointed to a different strand that was close to the abnormal one. "This is the one in the Permian. This one here connects it to our time." He pointed to the abnormal one.

"So you're saying it was one of the repercussions of what happened in the past?"

"Yes. It could have been the formation of the ARC too early, someone being born in someone else's place. . ." he was afraid to say what he thought next. ". . .But I need more time to determine what." He turned around, looking at Connor, the words finally sinking in. "You said Stephen was back?"

"Yes, he's in the medical station, he got bitten by an Arthopleura."

"Again? Silly arse." he smiled. "He might want to see me, I'll go check on him." he started to walk out the door. Connor picked up one of the papers with Cutter's notes on it and prepared to read it. "Connor." Nick warned "We don't need to talk about the fate of the universe again do we?"

"No, sir." Connor quickly set the paper back down then followed Cutter out of his office.

**Next up: Nick tries to come to terms with his past, especially with the reappearance of Stephen in his life bringing up painful memories.  
**


	20. Chapter 19: One of the Team

Chapter XIX: One of the Team

_Last time: Abby and Connor brought Stephen back to the present, but after he was bitten by an Arthoplerua(again!) He was brought into the Medical Bay and is recovering quickly. Tremors were felt across time, Cutter coming to the conclusion that it's not the world that's falling apart, it's all of space and time. He must work quickly to find a solution. Sarah still hasn't learned Becker's name yet, and Cutter is trying to keep his mind free of thoughts of Claudia, Jenny and Helen, Stephen's presence being no help whatsoever. But he's still glad he's back. :)  
_

* * *

Nick peeked inside the medical station and saw Stephen sitting up on his bed talking with one of the nurses. He opened the door and Stephen gave him a look that held both surprise and apprehension.

"Hello, Nick." he said nervously.

"Stephen." he nodded his way. Both of them were silent for a second, unsure what to say when Cutter broke the ice. He smiled. "We missed you." Stephen gave a huge sigh of relief and rested his head on the metal frame of the bed behind him.

"I thought you wouldn't want me back."

"I had to admit at a time I wouldn't, but now, all that's changed. You saved all our lives Stephen, back there. Thank you. You'll always be one of the team."

"Well, you couldn't keep me away for long." Stephen playfully punched him in the stomach. Cutter winced. "You alright? What happened?"

"Yeah, Helen shot me." he said calmly.

"She shot you?!" he cried.

"Yeah, thankfully I had a bullet proof vest on, but you know, still doesn't stop the bruising." he rubbed the sore spot disdainfully.

"I still can't believe she shot you! Why?"

"She was under some premise that I would somehow destroy all mankind."

"Well, we're still here aren't we?"

"Yep, no thanks to Helen. I heard she tried to destroy the whole human race too. But you'll have to ask Connor, Abby or Danny for details."

"Danny?"

"Yeah, Danny Quinn, great guy. Took over after I died."

"You died?!?" Stephen seemed out of it. Cutter placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Stephen, we have a whole lot to talk about." Stephen pursed his lips together.

"I wish I had never met Helen." his words were laced with revulsion and hatred.

"I believe you."

"Thanks, Cutter, that's music to my ears." Cutter walked towards the door.

"Concentrate on getting better, Stephen, I'm gonna need your help soon."

"They'll be letting me out tonight."

"Good, see you then." he started to walk out when Stephen stopped him.

"Wait, Nick, what did you do to your hair?" Stephen smirked at him, noticing how much longer his hair had become.

"Well, you see uh, Jenny, she thought I should try out a new look and. . ."

"Jenny?" Stephen interrupted his ramble. "Man, you get nervous every time that woman even looks at you, much less speaks to you! Are you two an item now?" Cutter turned away but Stephen caught a flash of sadness in his eyes.

"No, never. I can never love Jenny." They were both quiet.

"Hey, where is she by the way?" Stephen asked. "I haven't seen her yet."

"She quit about a year ago, just after I died. Left and never came back."

"She'd come back if she knew you were alive."

"No, I don't think she would."

"How can you be sure of that? Why can't you at least give her a chance?" His voice nearly raised to a shout.

"Because she'll never be Cl..." he stopped, thoroughly ashamed at what he had just thought. He quickly recovered. "Because she'll never be able to get over our differences. She'll never come back. What's done is done and none of us can change that." Stephen looked at him doubtfully, a little annoyed.

"You should still contact her." But Cutter did not reply, he just merely walked out of the room.

**Next, Cutter can't handle it anymore, the pain of loss is too great. Will it interfere with his research? Can he cope with the fact that his true love(Claudia) and his good friend(Jenny) are both gone out of his life forever?**


	21. Chapter 20: Memories

**This by far is one of my favorite chapters, I nearly burst into tears writing it.**

Chapter XX: Memories

Cutter shut the door to his office and locked it. He grabbed the picture of Claudia and held on to it tight as if it would disappear too. His talk with Stephen had shaken him more than he realized.

"They want me to forget about you, Claudia, they all do. But I can't, I won't. I never will, because you'll always be in my heart."

He had been told that grief gets lighter over time, but nothing had changed for him. He had been able to get over the death of his grandmother and his father, over time.

_This wasn't the same!_

Claudia wasn't dead, she was erased from time, nobody remembered her, everything she had accomplished in her life was gone forever. No, she hadn't died. He could've accepted her death given time, but this was much, much worse.

The truth was, Claudia Brown had never existed.

She had impacted his life in a tremendous way, but she still was gone.

The study he was doing coupled with Connor's admission that he had seen her sent a wave of memories that flooded his consciousness.

* * *

He felt her soft lips on his the day she kissed him in the pub when they first met. Her sweet smile washed over him like a refreshing wave.

* * *

He remembered the cold day by the reservoir when she brought him coffee, her gentle voice echoing in his mind.

_"I used to sit there, praying that something would happen in my life."_

_"Be careful what you wish for." _He had been obsessed with finding Helen back then so much that he couldn't even see what he was looking for had been standing there the whole time: someone who loved him.

* * *

He smiled when he remembered the time they were attacked by the killer birds in the hotel and he asked her for her shirt for the second time that day.

_"This is becoming quite a habit."_

_ "What? Asking for your clothes of getting us attacked?" _

_ "Both."_

* * *

He remembered painfully their last moments that they shared together.

_ "What happens if it closes while you're on the other side?"_

_ "Um, then, we wait 'til it reopens." When he started to head for the anomaly she grabbed his arm._

_ "Don't go, Stay! I think this is a mistake. I have a really bad feeling about this."_

_

* * *

_Nick slammed his first on the table, knocking over a stack of papers that fluttered to the floor.

"I should have listened to her! She disappeared because of my curiosity to find the future anomaly! It was all for nothing!"

_"It's gonna be fine." _Was what he had said to her. A tear slid down his cheek as he remembered his last words to her were _"See you soon." _

He remembered their last forceful kiss that seemed to last forever.

He couldn't keep himself from breaking down after that. Tears fell on his one and only piece of Claudia Brown that was left.

For the first time in his life, Cutter broke down and wept over the loss of Claudia Brown, his lost love.


	22. Chapter 21: A Startling Truth

**I apologize immensely for not updating sooner, I have no excuse this time! O.o Sorry, just one chapter update this time!**

**By the way, I realized too late that Helen destroyed the artifact in the series, the one that Nick is studying in my story. Just ignore that, sorry.**

Chapter XXI: A Startling Truth

_He remembered their last forceful kiss that seemed to last forever..._

_He couldn't keep himself from breaking down after that. Tears fell on his one and only piece of Claudia Brown that was left._

_For the first time in his life, Cutter broke down and wept over the loss of Claudia Brown, his lost love._

* * *

From that moment on he worked with a renewed vigor, locking himself in his office, only coming out to eat or use the lavoratory. Sarah and Abby were worried.

"This has been going on for a full week now, he's working like a madman. Is he even sleeping? I hope he doesn't get himself sick." Stephen walked over to them.

"You know Cutter, stubborn as a mule and determined as well. He won't stop until the world is safe once again."

"Either that or he kills himself. Whichever comes first." Abby said.

Connor and Abby had brought Stephen up to date on everything that had happened so far. Today he had helped Becker inventory the weapons supply, had a long discussion with Danny Quinn about the past, and had turned the report of his rescue in to Lester. Life had given him a second chance, and he wasn't going to waste a minute of it.

* * *

The next afternoon Cutter had requested that everyone meet in the main ADD room for a meeting. Abby, Connor and Danny sat in chairs around the tables. Sarah and Becker stood together with Stephen and Lester.

"We're going to need a rescue to team to extract that man from his mess of an office." Lester muttered to no one in particular. Sarah leaned over to whisper to Becker.

"Do you think he's finally come up with a conclusion?"

"He had better." He replied.

* * *

_Earlier that morning..._

"No! That's not possible!" Cutter suddenly backed away from his desk. It was the one thing in the world he wanted, but the one thing he was most afraid of. Nick Cutter had found the answer. _  
_

* * *

_Present:_

Finally after a few minutes of waiting, Cutter emerged from his office carrying a stack of papers, which he promptly dropped on one of the desks. All were silent as they listened to what he had to say.

"After a week's worth of studying and testing, thoroughly examining the artifact and the model, trying different theories and such, I have come to a conclusion, which I truly believe, crazy though it may sound." Everyone tensed up, eager for what he had to say, but he seemed hesitant to say what he had to say.

Finally, he blurted it all out in a rush. "Claudia Brown holds the key to the safety of the universe."

"What?!!" Danny leapt up. Nick was afraid he'd react. He noticed Danny had some dormant feelings for Jenny. "What are you planning to do?"

"I don't know, bring her back, I guess."

"What will this do to Jenny?"

"I don't know, many different things could happen, most likely she'll disappear."

"You can't do this! What does Jenny have to say about it? You can't be sure of this!" Abby and Connor tried to get him to calm down but he roughly shrugged them away.

"I've tested all I can, this is the only way." Nick said calmly.

"No! I can't allow you to do this! You can't erase someone's life just to bring your love back!"

"Danny, I assure you, I am not doing this merely out of my feelings for Claudia. Besides, you'd rather have Jenny and take the fate of the world into your own hands?" Danny was silent. He stomped over to the door before shouting

"That doesn't make it right! Messing with people's lives like that!" He said before slamming the door. Lester, who had been silent the whole time, murmured

"Well, that went over quite nicely, don't you think? Handled with your usual flair." Cutter put his head in his hands while the others glared at Lester.

* * *

Danny had been hiding out in the ARC until it was dark. He then sneaked into Lester's office and picked open the lock on one of the filing cabinets in the corner. He pulled out a file labeled 'Lewis' and opened it. He found out she had moved to the states and had changed her name to Lily Watson.

"Lily?" he muttered questionably. He grabbed the phone sitting on Lester's desk.

"Get me on the next plane to New York."


	23. Chapter 22: Jenny

Chapter XXII: Jenny

_Last time: Cutter revealed that bringing Claudia Brown back could save the universe. Danny became angry, saying that it wasn't right because there was a chance that Jenny's life could be erased. So, without consent of either Cutter or Lester, Danny is now on his way to New York to talk to Jenny._

_

* * *

_A few hours later Danny sat in the window seat of a plane flying across the ocean. He wondered how she'd react when she'd see him. He hoped she would be happy, but yet, he was an unwelcome reminder of her past. He looked out the window at the clouds rolling by.

"See you soon, Jenny."

* * *

Nick knew something like this would happen. Quinn was missing and so was Jenny's file. The only thing to do now was to wait.

* * *

Danny walked alone down the dark streets of New York City, until he came to the address he'd lifted from the files. He walked up the steps and apprehensively knocked on the door. After no answer he knocked again. Slowly the door opened. Danny stood there in amazement. Jenny had dyed her hair blond, and now it fell in lovely curls around her shoulders. Shock was clear on her face.

"Danny? No, this can't be happening!" She started to shut the door but Danny stuck his foot in.

"Jenny, we need to talk, a lot has happened since you left. Can you at least let me in?" Jenny hesitantly opened the door. Right before she left the ARC her style was both dressy and casual. Now it was just casual. She wore light grey jeans that had a huge rip in the right knee, thick white socks and a loose-fitting pink t-shirt.

"Sure, umm, okay." Danny stepped inside and gazed around. She had a nice apartment, scarcely furnished, obviously for one person.

"Jenny, I..."

"Please, call me Lily, I'm used to it now."

"Why Lily?"

"It was my grandmother's name, it's always been special to me."

"Okay, Lily." The name sounded strange on his lips. "I see you've made quite a life for yourself here." Lily walked over to a mirror sitting on a desk on the left. She proceeded to put her now wavy hair in a pony tail.

"Nothing's been the same, Danny. It's never been as good as before. I thought I could escape my old life, be able to forget about the past, but obviously, I can't." She picked up a picture up off the dresser and handed it to Danny who had sat on the couch. It looked like it had been ripped up and taped back together.

Danny knew it was Claudia Brown in the photo.

"I've thrown this away so many times I've lost track, only to retrieve it again. Every day I think 'What if I was Claudia, would I be happier than I am now?' All I ever wanted to do was to please Nick, but now that's not going to happen."

"But Jenny. . .I mean Lily, you can, Nick's alive, along with Stephen." Lily snapped her head up.

"What? He's alive?" Obviously missing the part about Stephen.

"Yes, and he wants to bring Claudia back." He was unprepared for what she did next. She smiled.

"It's what I've always wanted, a chance to go back."

"You mean back to the ARC?"

"That too. We've got to go back, Danny" she prepared to go to her room to pack.

"Wait." Danny said, hesitating. He had to know. "Do you still love him, after all this time?" She sighed, staring into space.

"That was the only thing I have ever come to terms with. I used to Danny, I used to. But then I realized he fell in love with Claudia, not me, and I was able to get over him." She sighed again. "That day, the day he died, I asked him out to coffee, not knowing it was his clone. The clone rejected me, and it hurt, bad. I knew that if the real Nick had said that, I should find a way to let go. I don't love him any more." Danny stood up, feeling sorry for her, but strangely relieved.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"You have a place to stay for tonight?" she asked him.

"Yes, there's a motel down the street." Danny casually pointed behind him, not wishing to impose.

"Okay, then, see you tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow."

* * *

**Coming up: Danny brings Jenny home. What will happen to Nick when he sees her again? Will it make things better or worse? Soon, he will have to make a choice between his true love and his best friend, also with the fate of the universe on his shoulders. **

**

* * *

By the way, if you're a Doctor Who fan, please check out my new story(on my profile): "Dealing with the Past" It's a short one-shot about the Regeneration from the Ninth to the Tenth Doctor, and Rose's feelings on it. Thanks :)  
**


	24. Chapter 23: Back Where I Belong

Chapter XXIII: Back Where I Belong

_Last time: Danny flew to New York to talk to Jenny, now calling herself Lily. She was excited to hear that Nick was alive and his plan to change her back to Claudia. She quickly got ready for departure for the ARC the next day._

_

* * *

_Danny was amazed at how quickly Lily had packed up her new life in one night. Their flight back to England wasn't until noon. They waited for their flight at a small diner on the corner. Between bites, they talked about the old days. Danny had learned a lot of things about her, like she had one sister and loved eggs benedict. He sadly realized that this may be the only chance they'd have to be alone together before she'd be Claudia and in Nick's arms again.

* * *

They were both silent as they waited for the plane to take off. Suddenly, Lily reached over and grabbed Danny's hand. He jerked his head around to look at her in surprise.

"Thanks, Danny, for coming for me." He said nothing but squeezed her hand.

* * *

Hours later, across the Atlantic, they pulled up outside the ARC. Danny was surprised anyone was there, considering the late hour.

"You sure you don't want to wait until tomorrow to do this, Lily?"

"Yes, I'm sure, and please, call me Jenny, I'm used to it now." She grinned at him.

* * *

Another surprise awaited them inside; the entire ARC team was waiting for them in the main room. Jenny whispered in his ear.

"Sorry, I made a quick call to Lester this morning, I guess he told everyone."

"Well, that would explain it." Everybody was sincerely happy to see Jenny back, even Cutter. Abby and Sarah admired her hair and Jenny giggled.

She saw Nick staring at her, so she walked over to him. They both gazed into each other's eyes until Jenny reached up and hugged him. Sensing how tense he was, she asked if she could speak to him in private.

Nick took her to his office. She ran her fingers along one of the metal poles that made up his model.

"I was hoping you'd get this back together again."

"Still has a lot more to go yet." Jenny got right to the point.

"Nick, I know what you want. . .what you have to do, and I'm okay with it, even happy."

"You are?"

"Yes, all I ever wanted was to change my life." She looked down at the floor, which was covered in crumpled papers that had missed the wastebasket, not knowing that Claudia had also dealt with Nick's messy office at the college. "You don't know how hard it is to keep living every day when you know you used to be someone else with a different life, someone who might've been happier than I am now. Everything just feels so empty, like something's missing." Jenny suddenly found herself in a huge bear hug and lifted off the ground.

"Thank you, Jenny, you don't know how much easier you've made this for me."

"Glad to help." She choked out, nearly being crushed by his strong grip. He set her down and she straightened her plain blue t-shirt. She was glad she had taken the time to do herself up a bit on the long flight home.

"Oh, by the way, this is yours." she handed him the photo she had of him and Claudia.

"Thank you." he said, stuffing the picture in his pocket. "This'll be hardest on Danny you know."

"Why?"

"Can't you see he has feelings for you?"

"Danny Quinn?" she said dumfoundedly.

"Jenny, you'd think being a Public Relations person for so long, you'd have noticed."

"Actually, I haven't been a PR person since I left."

"What have you been doing all this time?"

"Umm, I was a librarian." Cutter tried not to laugh. "Hey!" She chided him "I've always loved books, it was kind of like my dream job." Nick came over to her.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't picture you as one y'know. I'm sure you made a great librarian," She eyed him suspiciously.

"Yeah, sure you do."

"No, really!" She gave him a mischievous smile that brought back the memory of the time when Claudia stood in his office teasing him.

_"By the way, when those. . .things were attacking us. . .you kissed me, on the lips." Nick struggled for an answer._

_ "I know." _

_ "You do know that sexual harassment is a serious disciplinary offense in the civil service?" Nick was dumbfounded by her bold statement. She walked out of his office with a mischievous grin on her face._

It reminded him so much of Claudia it hurt. Jenny saw his eyes cast down in sadness. Thinking she'd done something wrong, she rushed over to him.

"Nick, I'm sorry, I..."

"No, it's not you, Jenny."

"Nick?" She prepared herself to ask him the question that had been on her mind for years.

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?" She blurted out before she could stop herself. Afraid that she might've fallen for him, Cutter was unable to look her in the eye, so he turned away.

"No, I can't. Even now, when I look into your eyes I see. . ."

"You see Claudia."

"Yes."

"What was she like?" she gazed at him with innocence. Cutter remembered what he told Abby that night in the shopping mall with the raptors. Except this time, someone would believe him. He quoted himself a little differently.

"She was amazing. Very good at her job. Loyal. Team player and not as tough as she pretended to be but she was strong when it mattered." _You was especially strong the day I left you for good. _He thought.

"You loved her, didn't you?" She asked him.

"Yeah, yeah I did."

"Nick." She whispered again. "About my first question. . .I don't love you either." She heard Nick release a sigh. She looked at him. He was smiling. They both laughed out of sheer relief then walked out of his office together, their friendship restored.

**Next up, what we've all been waiting for...what's on everybody's minds...Will Nick's plan work? Will everybody have a happy ending? Will the earth be destroyed in the process?**


	25. Chapter 24: Op: Saving the World pt 1

Chapter XXIV: Operation: Saving the World Pt. 1

The early morning sun shone through the trees of the Forest of Dean, even though it was still a cold September day.

_This is where it all started. How fitting it should end here. _Nick thought nervously. He was having second thoughts. _What if we mess up and make it even worse? What if I have my facts wrong and the world's not heading for destruction? _He knew his facts were right, but that didn't stop the second-guessing.

He glanced behind him and saw Jenny and Danny talking. _They could've had a wonderful life together. As much as I love Claudia, I'm still gonna miss Jenny, a lot. _He glanced around at everybody else who had come. They were all there: Lester, Becker, Sarah, Connor, Abby, Stephen, Danny, and Jenny, and hopefully soon, Claudia.

* * *

Those who had been chosen to bring Claudia back were Nick, Connor, Abby and Becker, Stephen was not pleased, thinking he should go instead of Becker. But Lester painfully reminded him that he had not fully recovered from his near-fatal bite, so Stephen reluctantly stepped down.

* * *

Connor said they had to do this quick. He would have to keep the anomaly open so they wouldn't become trapped with a dead AC and no anomaly in a dangerous place: The Forest of Dean during a temporal shift. Nick walked over to Jenny and sadly they shared their goodbyes. Nick saw a tear slide down her cheek.

"You sure you want us to go through with this?"

"Yes, Nick, I don't want to be a copy of someone else any more. I want this more than anything, even if it doesn't look like it." She wiped the tear away and shook her blonde head.

Cutter, Abby, Connor and Becker stood in front of the open anomaly. Finally, after one last look at Jenny, Nick stepped through, followed by the rest.

* * *

It was afternoon when they stepped through. Connor confirmed that they were in the separate dimension. Thankfully, the anomaly was opened in such a spot that it could not be easily spotted from anyone not part of them. After walking a ways they were able to spot the camp set up two years ago. Nick's heart leapt at the sight of Claudia, her lovely auburn hair dancing in waves around her shoulders, worry clearly shown on her face of the Nick that had gone through the anomaly.

"We need to find out what happens to Claudia." Nick opened his hand and Connor placed a tiny tracking device that was hooked up to the anomaly creator.

"You sure you can find out what happens with this?"

"Yes, I'm sure, I made it myself." Nick tried not to frown, considering that the first trial runs of both the ADD and the Anomaly Sealer were both failures. Connor continued

"We just have to get this onto Claudia or her clothing." Suddenly, Cutter was glad Becker had come along.

"Connor, why don't you and Abby return to the anomaly and make sure it's still stable." As they rushed off to fulfill his order he pulled Becker aside.

"I want to do another rescue as well." Cutter knew no one would recognize Becker; he was wearing nearly the same uniform as Captain Ryan and his men.

Understanding what he had to do, Becker took the tracking device from Cutter and walked into the camp. He went up behind Claudia and snapped the tracker to the bottom of her white jacket. She obviously felt something because she turned around to face him.

"Do I know you?" Behind the trees, Cutter chuckled at her bluntness.

"Umm, Miss Brown, Captain Ryan told me to tell you. . ." he stopped, just as he had planned, and stared at the anomaly in mock horror.

"What?" Claudia's fear over Nick made her forget about not recognizing Becker.

"Something just went through the anomaly." He grabbed his gun and ran towards it shouting "Stay here, don't let anybody else go through!" he desperately hoped they would follow his warning.

"What is he doing?" Connor whispered loudly to Cutter. Abby crouched beside him, mirroring his look of worry. They had both seen Becker rush for the anomaly. Nick shrugged.

"Oh, just a little side-mission, shouldn't take too long." Cutter had full faith in Becker's ability to complete the task he had given him.

* * *

Becker gazed around at the area he had been told was the Permian in wonder. It was as beautiful as he had imagined. He saw human tracks and followed them until he saw who he was looking for.

Captain Tom Ryan stood by himself, looking for anything that would look like a future anomaly. Captain Becker sneaked up behind him and hit him in the back of his head using the butt of his gun with a force powerful enough to fell him first blow.

The strong man who was able to take a punch directly in the face from Nick Cutter fell to the ground.


	26. Chapter 25: Op: Saving the World pt 2

**I wasn't planning on adding this chapter today, but I realized how short it was, and the cliffhanger is stronger here than on the last chapter(sorry!)**

Chapter XXV: Saving the World Pt. 2

"Is it working Connor?" Cutter indicated to the AC.

"Yes, everything. . ." Suddenly he was cut short by a woman screaming. Cutter felt like someone had ripped his heart out when he saw it was Claudia. She gripped the sides of her head and sunk her knees to the ground. The Abby and Connor from the past rushed over to help her, but were startled to find her body fading.

When she was almost gone and could barely see her outline, she looked up to the sky.

"Nick. . ." she whispered before disappearing completely. Nick now felt like his torn heart had been ripped in two and stomped on upon the ground. He hung his head in grief, tears sliding down his face.

"Claudia!" The past Abby cried. Everyone from the past who stood there rushed to where she had disappeared. Past Stephen groped around the area where she once was.

"Cutter's not gonna. . ." Suddenly everything, even the air around them started to sparkle and shimmer, and all who were there from the past: Lester, Connor, Abby and Stephen, mirroring Claudia's reaction to her disappearance, also gripped the sides of their heads in intense pain before fainting and falling to the ground.

The present Nick, Connor and Abby were not affected.

"Amazing." Connor said. "We have just entered a separate dimension." Cutter was unable to speak. Just how his last words were 'Claudia' before he died, his name had reverberated from her lips as she disappeared. Finally, he was able to find his tongue again.

"Connor, Claudia, where has she gone?"

"I've got the coordinates, she's been transported to another dimension, one unlike any other." Suddenly, Becker emerged from the Permian anomaly carrying the unconscious Captain Ryan, frowning at the four also-unconscious bodies on the ground.

"We've got to go now!" Cutter yelled as he saw what was once the Team from the Home Office now the ARC team start to wake up. Abby, Connor and Becker carrying Ryan ran for the anomaly.

Nick watched their counterparts from the past stand up groggily, look at each other in confusion, then continued what they were doing as if nothing had happened.

"Their minds were changed as well. They've forgotten Claudia completely." Nick was glad at least that he had not forgotten also, or he wouldn't be here right now. He ran for the anomaly and saw it was starting to fade. He gave an extra burst of speed, hoping he would make it through before it disappeared.


	27. Chapter 26: Ryan

Chapter XXVI: Ryan

_Cutter watched Claudia disappear before his very eyes. Connor figured out she was trapped in a strange dimension. Becker stumbled through the anomaly with an unconscious Captain Ryan, and the four of them sprinted for the anomaly that would take them home._

_"Nick ran for the anomaly and saw it was starting to fade. He gave an extra burst of speed, making it through seconds before it disappeared."_

_

* * *

_Nick wasn't sure he had made it through the anomaly until he saw his friends huddled over the unconscious Capt. Ryan. He walked slowly to regain his breath.

"Connor, how long until you can open the next anomaly?"

"Ten minutes, Professor." Cutter bent down to on knees when he saw Ryan waking up.

"Take it easy with him, there's a lot of things that will be different. In fact, he'll only recognize me, Abby, Connor, Lester, Stephen, and maybe Jenny. The rest of you stand back, including you, Jenny." Those not indicated stepped back.

"Becker, did you do everything I told you?" Nick asked him.

"Yes, I told the other men that Capt. Ryan had been taken by a future predator and that they should protect the professor at all costs."

"Well, nothing seems to have changed, obviously, so, good job."

"Thanks, Sir." he seemed to stand a little straighter.

* * *

Captain Tom Ryan groggily opened his eyes and saw Cutter, Stephen, Abby and Connor kneeling over him. Lester stood a short distance away watching guardedly. Ryan sat up, putting his hand on the back of his head where a rather large lump was growing. He glared at Cutter accusingly, remembering last time, until he noticed his longer hair and the unfamiliar faces standing a few feet away. His eyes opened wide in surprise and a little fright.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"Tom, this may sound crazy, but everything I'm about to tell you is true." He then proceeded to tell him about the events in the Permian, and all that had happened since then. But he avoided mentioning Claudia until he was sure Ryan understood everything else.

"So, let me get this straight, I was supposed to die, so you brought me here, two years into the future?" Cutter nodded.

"What about Julia?"

"Who's Julia, your wife?"

"Yes, we had a little daughter, Liana, she is. . .was three months old." He looked sad.

"We'll do all we can to find them, I'm sure they're all right. The alternative was to let you die, and I couldn't do that again." Cutter looked at Lester and Lester nodded, saying wordlessly that he'd do his best to find Julia and Liana.

Nick started to introduce him to the team he hadn't met yet.

"That's Dr. Sarah Page." She smiled and waved at him. "Captain Becker." He nodded at him. Ryan furrowed his brow at Becker's title 'Captain.'

"That's Danny Quinn, former cop, and that's. . ."

"Miss Brown!" Ryan cried out. "Thank God you're okay! I was worried. . ." Jenny, frightened, took a step back. Ryan looked at Cutter for an answer.

"That's Jenny Lewis, our PR Representative."

"But that's..."

"When I came back from the Permian, Claudia was gone and nobody knew who she was. Jenny just looks like Claudia. Claudia is trapped in another dimension, we're going to try to bring her back now. He looked at Connor and he nodded.

Connor opened the anomaly and Cutter stood up, letting the others take care of Ryan. He stood in front of the anomaly grasping at the shards of light, watching them pass through his fingers.

"I'm coming, Claudia", he murmured.


	28. Chapter 27: Hold On

**I love this chapter. Some angsty love for those Danny/Jenny fans (Janny) And a tiny reference to my story "The Sands of Time"(marked by *). The song is "Hold On" by Michael Buble, which is a gorgeous song and I highly recommend you listen to(actually, anything by Buble is fantastic! :D)**

Chapter XXVII: Hold On

"Connor, Abby, you're with me." Nick said. They were off to save Claudia.

Once they stepped through the anomaly they were dumbfounded by what they saw. They were in a thick forest. It was light but nobody saw anything that closely resembled a sun. Also, there was not a single living creature, no bugs, animals or people. All in all, it was very depressing.

"It feels like a dream." Abby said as a hazy mist descended upon them.

"Or a nightmare." Connor added.

"Connor, this feels kind of like the destroyed future with all the predators, scary yet strangely beautiful." Connor nodded.

"Connor?" Cutter asked. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"Absolutely sir, she should be here. She might've wandered off, she's been here at least two years." This spurred on Nick to find her quickly.

"Keep looking, it's imperative that we find her." There was an urgency in his voice that also spurred Abby and Connor on to look harder.

* * *

Cutter had been running through the mysterious forest shouting Claudia's name until he came to an open field. He stopped in his tracks.

A small form clothed in white lay on it's side upon the ground. Fearing the worst, Cutter ran as fast as his legs could possibly go until he reached Claudia's side. Abby and Connor had also reached the edge of the forest and struggled to keep up with Nick.

Claudia's back was facing towards him so he gently grabbed her shoulders and turned her off her side onto her back. Her gorgeous golden auburn hair sprawled all around her, but her beautiful eyes remained closed.

"Claudia! Wake up!" He shouted. "I've come so far already to find you." He checked for a pulse and found one but it was very, very weak. "We have to get her out of here, this place is killing her." He picked Claudia up by putting one arm under her head and the other under her knees, just as he had done when she was injured in the desert all those years ago.*

* * *

Back on the other side of the anomaly, a wave of fear hit Jenny full force. She grabbed Danny's arms forcibly.

"Danny." She said nervously. "I've changed my mind, I don't want to cease to exist." She quivered, looking into his eyes. "I'm scared." Danny slowly pulled her into an embrace, the top of her head just barely touching his chin. They both knew it was too late to go back now. He remembered the words to a song that he thought would be appropriate. He didn't sing them, he merely spoke them in a comforting tone.

"Hold on to me tight, Hold on, I promise it'll be alright." Jenny looked up at him, recognizing the song. He continued, his face inching closer to hers.

"Cause we are stronger when we're together, than we could ever be alone. So hold on to me. . ." Jenny finished the last line for him, still looking into his eyes.

"And don't you ever let me go." Suddenly, overcome by her fear and desperation, grabbed the back of Danny's head and pushed his lips to hers. Danny was not startled, he was just thankful to share this last moment with her. They kissed with such a force that could only mean goodbye forever.

"_Hold On" _

_by Michael Buble: _

_For Danny Quinn and Jenny Lewis  
_

_"Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones?  
I guess that we were once,  
Babe, we were once. . ._

_But luck will leave you, cause  
It is a faithless friend.  
And in the end when life has got you down,  
You've got someone here that you can wrap your arms around._

_So hold on to me tight.  
Hold on to me tonight.  
We are stronger here together,  
Than we could ever be alone.  
So hold on to me. . .  
Don't you ever let me go, mmhm. . .  
_

_There's a thousand ways for things to fall apart,  
But it's no one's fault.  
No, it's not our fault, ooh. . ._

_And maybe all the plans we made might not work out,  
But I have no doubt even though it's hard to see,  
I've got faith in us and I believe in you and me.  
_

_So hold on to me tight.  
Hold on, I promise it'll be alright.  
Cause it's you and me together,  
And baby all we've got is time.  
So hold on to me, hold on to me tonight. . ._

_There's so many dreams that we have given up.  
Take a look at all we've got.  
And with this kind of love,  
What we've got here is enough. . ._

_So. . .hold on to me tight.  
Hold on, I promise it'll be alright.  
Cause we are stronger here together,  
Then we could ever be alone.  
Just hold on to me,  
Don't you ever let me go. . .  
Hold on to me, it's gonna be alright.  
Hold on to me, tonight.  
_

_Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones?" _


	29. Chapter 28: Changes

**Something in this chapter for everyone. Click(Claudia/Nick), Janny, a little Secker, a bit of Conby and even a hint of Lester/OOC**

Chapter XXVIII: Changes

_Previously: Cutter, Connor and Abby went through an anomaly to a strange dimension where Claudia had supposedly been trapped for two whole years all alone. Cutter found her unconscious and very close to death, possibly by the strange dimension suppressing her ability to live for so long. He carried her back towards the anomaly with one arm under her legs and one under her head, as he did so long ago in the Desert in my story "The Sands of Time". Jenny became very frightened at the thought of ceasing to exist and looked to Danny for support, who whispered the words of "Hold On" by Michael Buble to her. Overcome by her feelings, she forced his head to hers in a long but meaningful kiss, both ready to say goodbye forever._

_

* * *

_Cutter had never felt this way since Claudia disappeared. As he carried her, willing her eyes to open, he felt a mix of hope and fear. If she died, Cutter feared that his mind may actually snap this time. Now that he had found her, he never, ever wanted to leave her, even for a second.

* * *

Jenny had stayed in Danny's embrace until Cutter emerged through the anomaly carrying her barely alive counterpart. She saw Nick stare right into her eyes. She put a hand on Danny's arm and distanced herself a bit, as a tingling sensation running through her body.

"Danny." She whispered weakly, knowing this was it. Fright shone in her eyes that she would soon cease to exist. Suddenly a lightning bolt of pain ran through her head. "Danny!" She screamed.

Cutter realized she was mirroring Claudia's reaction when she had disappeared.

Danny was kneeling right by her side, hoping that somehow this wouldn't have happened. Soon, he would never remember her, but yet, as he thought it, he knew he could never forget Jenny and the impact she had made on his life.

"I love you!" He shouted to her. She painfully turned to him and smiled. Suddenly, nobody expected what happened next. Instead of disappearing, she collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Danny watched her face, startled as changes overtook her body.

Her medium-sized frame became smaller, her curves more defined. Her dyed blond hair slowly changed back to her natural color, which was dark brown. Everything about her, even her face, had changed ever so slightly. She was a different person, yet she was still the same.

Danny ran his fingers over her chin, admiring how much smaller and more defined it had become. He rejoiced when he realized his memories were not being altered. He rejoiced still when he saw Jenny's eyes slowly flutter open, revealing shining bright green in her eyes rather than the chocolate brown she was born with.

At the same moment, Claudia started to open her eyes. Nick quickly but gently laid her on the ground. They both whispered at the same time the names of their heroes.

"Danny." Jenny whispered.

"Nick." Claudia whispered. Then they both smiled.

* * *

When Jenny tried to sit up, Danny helped her and embraced her with an ever-present sense of total relief. _It was happening_. He thought. Fate had let him have his Jenny while Nick could have his Claudia. He let go of her, suddenly realizing that her memories may have been altered.

"Do you know your name?" He asked her. She turned her gaze away from him.

"Yes, of course I do, it's Lily Watson." Danny's head fell in disappointment, but Jenny turned her eyes back to him, and Danny could clearly see the amused mischief in her now sparkling green eyes. She grabbed his hands. "Danny, it's me, Jenny." Then they both laughed, sheer excitement of their upcoming life together overtaking them.

* * *

Claudia had a much harder time waking up. She could barely keep her eyes open. All she wanted to do was fall back asleep again, to give up, but this time she had had the most wonderful dream. She had dreamed that Nick had finally come to her rescue and had taken her away from the accursed forest where she had been trapped for two years, where she was barely alive.

The only thing that kept her going each day was the thought of her Nick coming to take her back where she belonged. After living by herself in the eerie forest for what seemed like forever, she realized he wasn't coming and something inside her just gave up. It was her fate to die there, all alone.

It was when she had given up and succumbed to the life-draining force that she had dreamed Nick had rescued her. She opened her eyes, believing that her mind was playing tricks on her and it would be too good to be true. She was startled to see Nick staring at her. _Can it be? Was it not a dream? _As she regained consciousness, she reached out and touched his face to be sure.

"Nick." She smiled fully, and, with a shot of energy she hadn't felt in years, embraced him. She was close to tears.

"I thought you would never come." Her voice was shaking. She released him and she noticed tears running down his face.

"I thought I would never see you again, after all these years." He sat upon the ground next to her.

"Oh, Nick" She cried. He pulled her gently onto his lap, with the top of her head up against the bottom of his chin, and they both released their separate fears, tears running down their faces, both happy beyond belief that a miracle had happened, that they had broken the boundaries of space and time to be together again.

They both sobbed, Claudia leaning up against Nick's chest, both their emotions too great to handle alone.

* * *

Finally, Nick wiped away his tears and gently cradled both sides of Claudia's face. He had been waiting to say this to her for a while, something he should've said to her a long time ago.

"Claudia Brown, I love you more than anything on this earth, more than my work, more than my friends, definitely more than Helen, more than myself. I never want to lose another minute with you. I want to marry you, start a family and grow old together. Claudia Brown, may I take you out to dinner?" She smiled and whispered her agreement,

"Of course you can." Nick was so happy his heart was singing. He stood up, carrying Claudia with him, then carefully set her down, noticing she was quickly gaining strength. Then, in his joy, he laughed and grabbed her gently around the waist and spun her around, almost giddily. Kindness and gentleness was so clear on her face that Nick knew he would never forget this moment.

He stopped spinning her slowly, realizing something.

"We're not even yet." a sly smile slid across his face.

"What?" She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Remember? You kissed me twice, once in the bar and once in front of the anomaly, and I only got to kiss you once, in the hotel. I owe you one." Claudia smiled at him, waiting with anticipation.

"Lead on then, Romeo."

"Gladly." He said quickly before his lips struck hers and they shared a passionate kiss making the previous three pale in comparison. Time seemed to stop for them. Nick loved how it seemed like his lips were made to fit hers. He never, ever wanted this moment to end.

* * *

Finally, they slowly pulled apart, both of them unwilling to let go. Claudia suddenly stopped, frowning at him.

"What?" He asked her.

"What did you do to your hair?"

* * *

Sarah and Becker stood silently together, watching Danny with Jenny and Nick with Claudia. Sarah looked upwards into Alex's dark brown eyes.

"I guess it's the season of love, isn't it?" Becker gave her a quizzical look, not noticing the hint she had given him.

"I guess so." Sarah sighed disappointedly at his inability to read her thoughts. She just chalked it up to the intuition of men(or lack of it) and contented herself with leaning her back up against his broad chest.

* * *

Abby turned to her left to where Connor, Lester and Stephen stood.

"I remember everything now, don't you? I mean, about Claudia." They all agreed.

"It's all clear now," Connor said. "I even remember the first time I met her." he laughed. "I accused her of being part of a governmental conspiracy." He grabbed Abby around her waist and pulled her closer. "Those were good times, fun memories. Remember the first day when I moved into the flat?" Abby jerked away and slapped him soundly on the arm.

"Yes! How could I forget? That was the most miserable. . ." She leaned closer to him. ". . .and happiest day of my life." Lester turned away, disgusted that these people would even think of sharing their personal feelings in public.

Seeing everybody like this made him think of his own family. He was anxious to get home to his wife, his two young daughters, and his son. Maybe his limo driver could pick up the girls early from school and he'd be able to spend a little time with them for once. No public displays for him though.

He decided to make a call to his driver, and make sure to tell him to keep the windows rolled up at all times.

**You're thinking it's close to being over, don't you?? Well, think again! :D**


	30. Chapter 29: Secrets Revealed

**Finally, the chapter you've all been waiting for! Current pairings so far are Nick/Claudia, Danny/Jenny, Connor/Abby, and Becker/Sarah**. **Other characters are Stephen, Captain Ryan and Lester.**

Chapter XXIX: Secrets Revealed

Lester let the team leave early, to get some much needed rest after a very eventful day. Abby, Connor, Ryan, Danny and Jenny piled into one truck while Sarah, Becker, Stephen, Nick and Claudia climbed into the other. Connor stopped when he saw a limousine pull up.

"Hold on, Danny, there's something I want to see." He climbed out of the truck. Lester had walked away to answer his mobile, obviously caught up in his conversation. He did not see Connor walk up to the side window. He had got a glimpse of children in the back seat. Remembering the Lester he had met in the future, he was curious. He tapped on the window and a little girl with dark brown hair rolled down the window. She scowled at him.

"What do you want?" Connor peeked in and saw an even younger girl sitting on the other side with short, curly, blond hair.

"Is your name Kathryn?" The girl stopped.

"Yes, how did you know that?" Her statement confirmed what he was thinking. He ignored her and spoke to the other girl.

"You must be Lisa." The little girl gave him a delighted smile and nodded, waving at him. Kathryn leaned over and pulled her sister's arm down.

"Daddy says never to talk to strangers." Lisa was confused because she had not said a single word to this strange man. The driver was alerted by her statement and quickly rolled the windows back up.

"Nice to meet you!" Connor stood on his tip toes and waved goodbye to them as the window slowly shut off their connection. He quickly hopped back into the truck when he saw Lester returning.

"What was that all about?" Abby asking.

"Oh, nothing, just checking up on the next generation." He nodded to Danny and the truck pulled away from the Forest of Dean.

* * *

Claudia was devastated when she realized she had no family, no home, nothing. Her life had been erased, along with everything that was related to it. Even her Golden Retriever Sandy was gone.

Nick gladly offered to let her stay at his place, but Claudia thought that wouldn't be proper, so she asked Sarah if she could bunk with her for a few days until she could get make other arrangements, much to Nick's disappointment. Sarah readily agreed to this as she was intrigued by this mysterious woman with the forgotten past.

Becker dropped Nick and Stephen off at Nick's house. Nick felt fortunate he'd been able to get his old house back after his return from death, along with Lester's help. Stephen hadn't been so lucky. The past few weeks he had been trying to get his own place, but nothing had worked out yet. Thankfully Nick did not mind him staying at his house.

* * *

Nick did not want to leave Claudia that night, as if he was afraid she would disappear as soon as she was out of his sight. But Claudia reassured him that she was not going anywhere, and that she would call him first thing in the morning. He agreed and reluctantly got out of the car and went into his house with Stephen.

* * *

Claudia leaned on the back of the chair, humming to the tune on the radio. It felt so good to be back in civilization again. She had Nick to thank for that. She, Sarah, and this Captain were now the only ones in the car. The quickly approaching sunset cast pink and orange beams across the sky. She leaned forward in her chair.

"Sarah, so are you and. . ."

"Becker." he said.

"Right, Becker, are you two 'together'? " Sarah hesitated.

"Well, um, I guess. . ."

"Yes." Becker said flatly. Sarah grinned.

"Yes." she repeated.

"Have Abby and Stephen gotten together yet?"

"Abby and Stephen?" Sarah turned around to face her with a questioning look.

"Yes."

"They've never been a couple, as far as I know, in fact, Abby and Connor have been going out for quite some time."

"Abby and Connor?" Claudia was surprised. "I always thought Abby fancied Stephen."

"I guess nobody told you yet. It was revealed that Stephen had an affair with Helen many years ago, and when she came back, he joined her side, until he was killed by the creatures."

"Killed?"

"Yes, but Abby and Connor brought him back, along with Nick."

"What happened to Nick?"

"Helen shot him."

"What!?" She shouted. "How could she?! If I get my hands on her. . ."

"You don't have to worry about that, she's already dead, killed in the past by a raptor and a twenty foot drop."

"Good." Claudia muttered darkly. If Helen was still alive, Sarah would've feared for her life. Suddenly, Becker swore and slammed his fist on the steering wheel.

"Sorry." He apologized. "We're almost out of petrol." He pulled into a filling station. It was getting towards dusk so he urged Claudia to stay in the car.

"Cutter would kill me if anything happened the first night he left you." He got out and prepared to self-serve. Sarah turned around again to speak to Claudia.

"I've always liked the name Claudia." not knowing that she had named her daughter Claudia in the alternate future.

"Thanks, you're the only one who seems to." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, obviously, Nick does, the way he says with reverence 'Claudia Brown.' " She motioned with her fingers in the air to emphasize her name. Claudia laughed.

"I guess so. I love how he says my name." Sarah prepared to climb out of the car.

"Excuse me, Claudia." She walked around the car to talk to Becker.

"Thanks, Alex, for saying we're a couple, it means a lot to me. I haven't been sure where we stand lately." Alex turned her way and cleared his throat.

"Sarah, I think it's time you know my first name, but you can't tell anybody." He hesitated. "It's. . ." He was interrupted by a woman shouting

"Hilary!" Sarah looked around, thinking someone had mistaken her for this Hilary. Suddenly, a blonde ran up and threw herself into Becker's arms. Sarah, startled, took a step back, until she realized this strange woman was hugging her suitor. She was about to come over and pull her off of him when the woman released herself. Realization struck Becker.

"Kari?" He said incredulously, like he was afraid of her. "Kari Dawson?"

"Actually, it's Kari Leavitt now, but hey! You remembered, Hilary!" She shook her head giddily. Over her shoulder Sarah mouthed the word 'Hilary?' to him in disbelief.

"Hey!" The woman shouted. "Introduce me to your girlfriend!" Her American accent was clear as day. She turned around exuberantly to face Sarah. Inside the car, Claudia watched her new friends with anticipation to how they would react to this strange woman. Becker became nervous.

"Um, Kari, this is Doctor Sarah Page. We work together."

"A Doctor? Sheesh, regular people aren't good enough for you, are they?"

"She's an Egyptologist."

"Even better." Sarah already didn't like this Kari.

"And this is Kari Daw. . .um Leavitt, she was my. . .my. . ." She blurted it out for him.

"I was his girlfriend in high school, after my parents moved here from the US." Sarah blushed. "But you lost me now soldier boy, shouldn't have joined the army and waited so long to make a move. Well, Hilary, I've got to go pick my kids up from the babysitter. Call me sometime, k?" she gave him a sweet smile that churned Sarah's stomach. She sauntered off and Sarah gave Becker a strange look.

"What?" He asked.

"How did you ever hook up with a girl like that? I always thought you preferred the strong and silent type."

"Well, look who I ended up with," he muttered. Sarah was speechless. Claudia gasped from inside the car, surprised at his words that were clearly not thought out.

"Well. . ._Hilary!!_ I. . .I. . ." She couldn't find the right words to say and started to walk away angry. Becker groaned and grabbed her arm.

"Sarah, it was just a joke. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I love it when you get excited." Sarah's heart softened towards him.

"Well, _Hilary Alex Becker_, I forgive you." As they leaned in closer to each other's lips, Claudia couldn't help but squeal in delight and clap her hands, happy for her new friends. Sarah and Becker pulled away and glared at her accusingly. She gasped and placed her hands over her mouth and blushed.

Life had finally gotten back to normal, as normal as it could be during these times.

_**Hilary Alex Becker?? **_**Really, you say? Yes, it's true, I looked it up! :)**


	31. Chapter 30: A Solution

**Some "Janny" fluff and a bit of Connor silliness :)**

Chapter XXX: A Solution

Lester had spent a great deal of time thinking on the subject, until he came up with a solution he was happy with. He called the whole team in for a meeting in the ARC the next day.

Cutter appeared with his hair cut short again, followed by a very satisfied looking Claudia Brown. Stephen tried very hard not to laugh.

* * *

There had been too many people to meet in Lester's office, so they met in the ADD room. Nick had arrived first with Claudia by his side, the others trickling in.

"As I see it, we have too many people for one team. I debated whether or not to have a Response Team who would respond to anomalies, and a Research Team who would stay at the ARC, hence the research part."

He was interrupted by Abby laughing at Connor's disgusted face at Lester's proposal, knowing he would've been placed on the "Research Team."

Lester cleared his throat loudly, causing an embarrassing silence from Abby. He continued. "As I was saying, I then realized that we had two leaders, two scientists, two PR representatives. . ." Claudia went to object that she wasn't a PR person, rather a civil servant, but she knew she had just been volunteered by Lester anyway. ". . .and two Captains." he finished.

"So I propose two separate teams, consisting of the following people, if there are no objections: Team A will consist of Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, Abby Maitland, Connor Temple, Captain Ryan, and Claudia Brown." Connor whispered to Abby,

"Sweet! We're the 'A Team'! I am _so_ Faceman." Abby shook with silent laughter.

"I think that would be Stephen's job. You're more of a Murdock type." Connor looked hurt, which made Abby laugh harder. Lester ignored them and continued.

"Team B will consist of Danny Quinn, Jenny Lewis, Dr. Sarah Page, and Captain Becker. I know there are six on team A and four on Team B, but try to deal with it in a reasonable manner, this solution will give us much more flexibility to deal with the anomalies."

Everybody glanced around them and nodded, pleased with the plan. Nick looked a little uneasy, though.

"Of course, teams will take turns responding to anomalies, and if a team member from one team cannot make it, another will fill in from the other team. This will mean more free time for all of you. Try to use it wisely."

"Yes!" Connor shouted, but shrunk back at Lester's glare.

"Team A will respond to the first anomaly alert, and by then I should have a full schedule drawn up." They all nodded in agreement then went their separate ways, either to work or home.

"Lester, can I speak with you a moment?" Cutter asked him. Lester nodded to his office and they walked up the ramp together. Once they were alone, Cutter got straight to the point.

"Sir, I request Claudia Brown to be removed from field duty."

"And why, may I ask?"

"I. . .I fear for her safety. There obviously is a danger with her and the anomalies." Lester sighed.

"Cutter, you cannot allow your personal feelings to get in the way of your work. All of us can now recall what valuable skills Ms. Brown has. Request denied." Cuter looked as if he were to speak again, but Lester held up his hand. "I can tell you are insecure in your feelings on this matter, I suggest you take a few days off, deal with your emotions. I will also give Claudia some time off too. Now, you two better work this thing out and be back to work by Wednesday. Danny and Jenny can take your places until then. Understood?" Nick nodded in agreement and left his office.

* * *

The two days off from work had done Nick and Claudia a world of good. They had been able to come to terms with their feelings and fears, and now were now felt able to cope with the stresses of daily life. So they decided to celebrate by taking the whole team out for a drink, including Ryan and his newly found wife, Julia. They laughed and joked all night long, until the anomaly alert went off at exactly midnight. Because it was their turn all that consisted of Team B went to respond.

"That's us." Danny said, grabbing Jenny's hand in his. She winked at Nick and Claudia before letting herself be dragged off by him.

"Later," said Abby as she and Connor decided to call it a night. Lester left shortly before them, saying he had an early meeting the next day. All that were left in the restaurant were Nick, Claudia, Stephen, Ryan and Julia.

Julia was a pretty woman with short brown hair that hung close to her face. She had a quiet personality. She had finally felt like she'd gotten over Tom's disappearance two years ago and had been dating someone, but quickly broke it off with him when she found out her husband was alive. Ryan's daughter Liana was now three and a half years old, and had been quickly able to accept him into her life as her daddy, which pleased Tom beyond words. Almost as if she somehow knew.

The night seemed to pass quickly for the friends, and finally they said their goodbyes, going their separate ways in the London fog.

* * *

Danny and Jenny were by themselves in the truck heading to the anomaly site. Jenny couldn't decide if she liked her new look or not after being changed when Claudia came back. She kept opening and closing the visor on the truck to look in the mirror. After a while the flashing light from the visor started to bother Danny's eyes.

"Jenny?" He said in an exasperated voice. "What are you doing?"

"I can't decide if I like it or not. I mean, I like it, but I liked my old face too. Guess I can't have it back though, it belongs to Claudia." She chuckled at the thought of trying to take Claudia's face back. She did not say what she was thinking. _I love my new figure though! _She put her hands on the sides of her face and moved them up and down, trying to get a feel for the shape of her face.

She pulled down the visor again when she realized her eyes were a different color. _My family and friends will never recognize me. But at least I still have friends and family, unlike Claudia, who lost everything. _She somberly leaned back in her chair, then suddenly, changing her mind again, pulled down the visor for the umpteenth time. Danny sighed loudly and pulled the truck over to the side of the road.

"Jenny, I thank God every day since that day when you were supposed to disappear but didn't. I thought you were the most gorgeous creature on Earth, and still do, in fact, even more so now, because I can call you mine." Jenny smiled and a tear slid down her cheek as Danny leaned over to kiss her neck. She sighed contentedly and replied by kissing him on the lips.

They pulled apart and Danny reached up and wiped away her tear. He slowly pulled his hand away and started up the truck and pulled back out onto the road heading for the anomaly site.

**Sorry, I couldn't resist that "A Team" pun lol! By the way, it may seem like I'm just writing for no apparent reason now that everybody's home, but I am building up to a final climax, just be patient! :)**


	32. Chapter 31: All is well or so we thought

**Oh. My. Gosh. I had no idea this chapter was sooo short. I'll make it up by posting three chapters. If I had realized before I would've changed it, but there's no going back now! :)**

Chapter XXXI: All is Well...Or So We Thought

_Previously: Cutter and Claudia have finally gotten over their fears of losing each other, and Jenny has come to terms with the fact that she is different than before(with Danny's help). Team B(Danny, Jenny, Sarah, and Becker) has just responded to an anomaly alert at midnight._

* * *

Danny and Jenny arrived at the anomaly site before Sarah and Becker, which was strange because they had stopped for a few minutes back on the road. It was nighttime but there was still enough light for Danny to see where they were at.

"An electrical plant? This could be bad." They went up to the fence. There was a sign there that said "Warning! High Electricity, Keep out!" and had a picture of a black stick figure graphically being electrocuted.

"At least this time we don't have to worry about anything getting out." Danny said.

"It's gets better than that, look!" Jenny had moved down the fence. Danny followed her and was awestruck by what he saw. Then he started laughing, hard. The anomaly was there alright, but it was already in it's closed state, without the help of the anomaly sealer.

"Connor's gonna get a kick out of this." Danny laughed again. Sarah and Becker's truck pulled up and they rushed out.

"Sorry it took us so long." Becker apologized. "Deer in the road." Sarah was ecstatic about the anomaly.

"This is amazing! The electricity from the plant was strong enough to seal the anomaly. I'll have to study this further." Becker, somehow knowing what she was thinking, instinctively grabbed her shoulder.

"Not here you aren't, this is way too dangerous." Sarah glared at him but did not argue.

"All right, I guess I could do it at the ARC.

"Sarah, one of these days your curiosity will get you into trouble." "_Or even be the death of you." _He thought, not knowing the tragedy that had happened to his parallel future wife.

* * *

"No way!" Connor exclaimed. The next day at the ARC Sarah had told him about the sealed anomaly the night before. "That's wicked cool!" he grinned. He and Sarah rushed off to study this strange phenomenon together. Everyone was happy and content for the moment. Unbeknownst to them something terrible was happening in the past. Site 333 to be exact.

**Ooh, didn't expect that coming did ya? :D**


	33. Chapter 32: Revenge

**No comment. Okay, I do. I have an excuse for this one. This one has to be on it's own. I don't know why. JUST READ IT! Sorry...**

Chapter XXXII: Revenge

All was deceptively quiet and peaceful at Site 333. Then something stirred.

Helen groaned and pushed the dead raptor off her chest. She wearily stood up and checked her body for broken bones. There were none, surprisingly, though she may have bruised a few ribs. The body armor she had "borrowed" from the future may have saved her life, but it did not save her from injury, including the one to her ego. She placed a hand on her back and winced. She was sure she'd be black and blue in that area for a long while.

She suddenly stopped what she was doing and lowered her eyebrows. Something was not right. She pulled out her data clock. She had only been out for two days since her fall. But something had happened in the present, she could feel it. She had gained a certain intuition about anything pertaining to time and when it was messed with. All those years traveling through the anomalies had given her an insight on them.

"Danny Quinn." she said, her voice full of malice. "This is all his fault. He'll pay for what he did to me."

Suddenly she stopped as she felt something, a new presence, once dead, now alive again, and recognition struck her.

"Nick." she whispered. "No, this can't be happening!" She shouted to the empty air around her. "They've changed the time line, altered the future. They must be stopped!" Her stomach grumbled loudly. She altered her plan, realizing that she was not up to full strength.

She would spend some time here, regain her strength, then she would exact her sweet revenge on every single one of the ARC team. Yes, that's what she would do.

She would bide her time, for now, and then they all would pay.

**I still have a really hard time believing that Helen is dead, killed by a raptor when she's been traveleing through the anomalies for ten years, surely coming up against more dangerous creatures than raptors! Here's my take on what happened.**


	34. Chapter 33: Surprise!

**Thankfully, this chapter's a little longer! :) Some long awaited "Click" fluffy goodness(my favorite!) :D Oh yeah, and some Conby too :)**

Chapter XXXIII: Surprise!

"Come on, please?" Nick gave her those ice blue puppy eyes that melted her heart and willpower.

"Well, okay." Claudia said. It had been a few months since Nick had saved her from the alternate universe, and they had grown closer every day since then.

Claudia sighed and allowed Nick to blindfold her. He guided her out to his car and drove to his apartment. Once they were inside Claudia asked if she could take off the blindfold.

"Not yet." Nick said excitedly and ran to another room to grab something.

"Nick!" She yelled after him, turning the one syllable word into a three syllable one, which most women are capable of. In the other room Nick leaned down and whispered

"Shh, be quiet, don't want to spoil the surprise." He picked up Claudia's surprise and carried it back to the front room, setting it on the couch. "Perfect," he whispered. He walked back over to Claudia and helped her take her blindfold off. Claudia gasped. There sitting on his couch was the most adorable little golden retriever puppy she had ever seen.

"Sandy." She whispered, tears flowing freely from her eyes. Nick went over and picked up the squirming puppy and brought it over to her. She gladly took her from his arms and laughed as Sandy licked her face excitedly. She buried her face in her soft golden fur.

"Nick, this is the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me. This is special beyond words. How can I ever thank you?" Nick got that mischievous smile on his face again.

"I can think of a few ways."

"I'm sure you can!" She laughed as he leaned over and kissed her lips sweetly. As they pulled apart, Claudia whispered.

"Thank you, Nick Cutter."

"You're welcome, Claudia Brown.

* * *

Connor shuffled his feet nervously. He and Abby planned on sharing their surprise with the rest of the team.

"You're happy aren't you?" Abby asked him.

"Yes, of course I am, I'm just nervous."

"We'll tell them together, Connor." This seemed to calm him somewhat, but he was still shaking nervously. He didn't know why he was scared, he just was. Abby leaned against him and pressed her lips against his softly, giving him the will power to open the doors.

* * *

Amazingly, Connor and Abby had picked just the right time. Everybody was in the Main ADD room.

Sarah was fiddling with the AS, trying to get it to close the anomaly without having to shut it down first.

Danny was staring at the ADD, bored out of his skull, as there were no anomaly sightings in the past week.

Claudia and Jenny were talking, mainly gossiping about Danny and Nick, who were very similar in more ways than one, as the girls were now finding out.

Becker, Ryan and Stephen were also talking, but they were discussing the weapons supply, rather than gossiping.

Nick had distanced himself a bit from the others, proud of what his team had become. Even though they had two leaders, everyone, including Danny, considered him the leader of them all, the one they could turn to when they were in trouble.

* * *

Abby and Connor walked in together. Nick saw the sick smile on Connor's face and smiled knowingly. Abby had confided to him earlier about a specific request. Abby prodded Connor in the back and he coughed nervously. Everybody in the room turned to look at him, which only made him more nervous.

"Umm, hi guys, well, umm I. . .I mean we, have an announcement." He paused thinking of the right words to say. He grabbed Abby around the waist and looked into her eyes. She smiled and nodded at him, giving him courage. They both turned back to their friends and shouted.

"We're getting married!" All the girls in the room squealed, including Abby, and the men smiled, happy for their friends.

Abby rushed over to her friends to discuss wedding plans while the men congregated to congratulate Connor. Becker was the first. He slapped him hard on the back, causing him to cough abruptly.

"It's about time." Danny said. "I thought you two would never get together."

* * *

Abby showed her friends the engagement ring Connor had gotten her.

"Wow, Abby, it's lovely." Jenny said. "It must've cost Connor a fortune!"

"However did he afford it?" Sarah asked. "Lester hardly pays us anything and I know he doesn't have a second job."

"I don't know." Abby replied. "He wouldn't tell me." She excused herself from her friends when she saw Nick standing alone.

"Thanks so much Nick, for saying you'll give me away at our wedding."

"I'm happy to, Abby." she threw herself in his arms and hugged him in a daughterly-like way. Abby had no family other than her brother Jack, and Nick had always been like a father to her and Connor, so naturally, he was the right choice.

* * *

Just as Nick was like a father to Connor and Abby, likewise, Stephen was like a brother to Connor, ever since they first met. They stood alone together, watching the girls gawk over her ring.

"Connor, that ring looks expensive, however did you afford it?" Connor turned to face Stephen.

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially Abby."

"All right."

"I sold my entire video game collection that I started in second grade. It was worth a fortune." Stephen was shocked.

"Wow! That's amazing, Connor. Whatever you do, don't tell Abby, it'll just make her feel bad."

"Don't worry, I don't plan on it."

* * *

"So, Abby, tell us everything." Claudia said. "When did he propose?"

"Last night, at the flat. Rex, Sid and Nancy were witnesses. If it wasn't for the ring, I wouldn't have thought he was planning on proposing, it just kind of came out." they all laughed.

"When's the wedding?" Sarah asked.

"About a month, we haven't decided on a specific date yet."

All of a sudden the ADD alarm started blaring, sending the room into red. Nick was the first to reach it. His heart plunged to his stomach and the fears he was able to come to terms with a few months ago came back in full force when he read the coordinates.

"The Forest of Dean."

**Sorry, another cliffhanger! But the final climax is quickly approaching! :D**


	35. Chapter 34: Past Comes Back to Haunt You

**An anomaly at the forest of Dean!! That's never good!! But Connor and Abby just announced their engagement and we know Becker's first name(no matter how much Logan wants to deny it lol :)) This is the final climax, it's been great, thanks so much for sticking with me for so long!!(Yes, there'll be two more chapters after this!)**

Chapter XXXIV: The Past Comes Back to Haunt You

Nick quickly looked around the room until he was sure Claudia was there. Team B prepared to leave, as it was their turn, but Cutter yelled

"Team A, we're on this one too. Let's head out." He grabbed Claudia's hand for reassurance. He whispered to her.

"This time, I'm not leaving your side."

* * *

Helen stood behind one of the trees in the Forest of Dean, waiting. She was surprised to see Nick and Stephen, but mostly, she was shocked to see Claudia.

_"Guess my plan didn't work. I'll have to be more thorough this time."_ she grabbed her gun and cocked it, waiting for just the right moment.

* * *

The team had been waiting by the anomaly for an hour. Nick knew something bad was going to happen, he could just feel it. He told all of them they needed to stay until the anomaly disappeared. Of course, the Anomaly Sealer had been used and no one was allowed through, but this did not help calm his fears. Claudia was getting weary, mainly because Nick would not let her out of his sight. She started walking a few feet away.

"Claudia." Nick warned.

"It's okay, Nick, I'll be right here." She leaned up against a tree at a distance from the team.

"Perfect." Helen whispered from her hiding spot. She sneaked around behind Claudia making sure nobody saw her.

* * *

Suddenly, Claudia felt the cold metal of a gun's barrel resting on the back of her head.

"Say it." Helen whispered in her ear.

"Nick." She said, scared and helpless, yet angry for letting herself be at the mercy of the one who once killed her Nick. Everybody turned around and saw Helen with a gun to Claudia's head. Cutter was furious.

"Helen! What are you doing?"

"You're dead!" Danny yelled, amazed. Helen shook her head.

"Danny, Danny, Danny, you think after traveling through the anomalies for ten years, battling creatures from both the past and the future that I would let myself be killed that easily? I'm not that careless." Cutter loathed this woman who was threatening to take Claudia from him again. He took a few steps towards her, but Helen shoved the gun into Claudia's head, causing Claudia to cry out in fear and pain. Nick stopped.

"What are you doing?" He repeated. Then realization struck him. "You made her disappear, didn't you?" Helen smiled evilly.

"Yes, you'd be surprised at what I can do with time and anomalies. Poor Nick, you should have chosen a life with me. Maybe now you'll realize your mistake."

"But why?" Claudia whispered, hurt that Helen had actually made her disappear on purpose. Helen removed the gun from Claudia's head and moved a few feet away in front of her, aiming for Claudia's heart.

"You kissed my husband." She said quietly. Shaking with rage, her voice grew louder. "You had the audacity to kiss _my _husband right in front of me and everyone else! You humiliated me! You will all pay for humiliating me. First you, Claudia, then you, Nick. I thought you would come back to me after I made Claudia disappear, but no, you didn't! My plan was perfect, to either: get you to come back to me, or to make you suffer for the rest of your life over your so called "lost love". Either way, I couldn't lose, except for the part where you brought this wench back! Want to know the real reason why I shot you, Nick?" Nick shook his head.

"The past no longer matters, Helen, what matters is now." He tried to approach her again, but Helen yelled, making the motion to shoot for Claudia's heart.

"Don't do it, Nick, you'll regret it!" She stopped and took a deep breath, calming herself before continuing. "Then finally, you Danny, will pay for trying to kill me and leaving me stranded in the past. It's a good thing I had another Anomaly Creator, or your plot might have worked. You also foiled my perfect plan of wiping humanity clean off the face of time. And for that, you will all pay. I'm sorry, Claudia." She started to pull the trigger.

"No!" Cutter shouted. This was his worst nightmare coming alive right before his eyes. He ran and pulled Becker's pistol from it's holster and fired.

Two guns went off at once. Helen and Claudia fell to the ground at the same time. Nick dropped the gun from his hand, uttering a cry like a wounded animal.

"What have I done?" He looked at the hands that had just committed murder. Not only was his love shot by his wife, but he had just killed someone, something he had sworn never to do. He rushed over to Claudia, guilt and fear overwhelming him. Abby called an ambulance.

* * *

Stephen stood over Helen, lying on the ground.

"Stephen." she whispered, pleading for help. He bent over and whispered to her.

"It's what you deserve, Helen. If Nick hadn't pulled the trigger, I would have. You betrayed and nearly killed me, then tried to kill Nick and Claudia, not to mention all of humanity. You're a murderer. Goodbye Helen. I'm sorry I ever laid eyes on you." Helen, too shocked at his words, remained silent as she took her last few breaths. Stephen stood up and walked away, feeling no regret.

* * *

Claudia gasped as the bullet hit her. She tumbled to the ground in unbearable pain. Nick was by her side in an instant. He remembered the pain of getting shot with a bullet proof vest on, and his heart cried out for her. He could not imagine the pain she must be enduring.

"Nick." She whispered.

"Claudia Brown, don't leave me, not now, not after all we've been through." She winced and spoke softly.

"Nick, I'm not going to die, look where the bullet hit me." Nick did as she said and ripped her top off. He sighed in relief. She had been hit in the shoulder, not her heart as Helen had aimed for. When Nick shot Helen it must have messed up her aim. Claudia cried out as a wave of pain hit her. She was losing strength fast. She felt the darkness of unconsciousness threatening to overtake her.

"Nick, in case I don't make it, I. . .I love you. . .more than anything."

"No, Claudia, don't say that! You said so yourself, you're not going to die!" Despite his relief that she still had a fighting chance, tears flowed freely from his eyes. He stood up and allowed the paramedics to place her on a stretcher and into an ambulance. He wiped his eyes, amazed at how emotional he had become over the past few months.

Danny ordered the soldiers to put Helen under guard and watch her closely. She had somehow survived a twenty foot drop with a raptor, who knew if a simple bullet would stop her?

**Sorry, it's still a bit of a cliffhanger, but the story's almost done!**


	36. Chapter 35: A Happy Ending, Finally!

**A message from Author Logan the Awesome regarding the first name of Captain Becker: "The truth is in the review!" lol, don't listen to her, she's still in denial! (jk Logan, you know it's all in fun! :D)**

Chapter XXXV: A Happy Ending, Finally!

_One Week Later:_

Claudia was released from the hospital and Helen was officially declared dead.

Nick's fears were gone, now that the only one in the whole world plotting Claudia's demise was finally dead.

No time-shattering tremors were ever felt again. Nick Cutter and Claudia Brown had saved the world.

* * *

He helped Claudia walk slowly into the ARC, being careful to not touch her injured shoulder. Their steps were sluggish but careful.

"I'll never get used to this place compared to the Home Office." She muttered, gazing around in wonder at the slick shininess of the ARC as though it were the first time she laid eyes on it, even though she had seen it for months already. Nick nodded.

"I'm still not, though it comes in handy sometimes." He helped her to her office where he had put a large, colorful banner that said 'Welcome Back'. All her friends were there, including Sandy, who bounded up to her with pure joy on the puppy's face.

"I hope we can get that mutt out of here now and return to business as usual?" said Lester.

Claudia smiled and hugged all of her friends, being careful to shield her still-sore shoulder. She looked at her friends, all smiling back at her:

Connor with his arm around Abby's shoulder, both their engagement rings glittering in the sunlight,

Sarah leaning up against Becker's chest,

Danny with his arm around Jenny's waist,

Lester and Ryan looking uncharacteristically relaxed.

Stephen stood alone with a small smile on his face, but she could sense he was finally free from his guilt now that Helen was dead.

She was happy to be back.

Yes, life had been crazy since the anomalies started, but for now, in this moment, life was good.

She and Nick, after so many years, were finally together again, in true love untouched by the boundaries of space and time, and nothing could separate them ever again.

_~The End~_

_

* * *

_**Watch for the Epilogue, hopefully tomorrow, or at least very soon! :)**_  
_


	37. Epilogue

**This last chapter is a song fic, "Crazy Love" by Michael Buble(the lyrics are slightly changed to make it a duet). I'd like to take a moment now to thank these wonderful people who were very steady in their reviews, you three kept me going!! :D Peppy87, Logan the Awesome and ****GregsMadHatter. ****You guys rock!! Thanks everyone else who favorited/story alerted, I hope you enjoyed the story!**

* * *

_Crazy Love_

_(Epilogue)_

_Song by Michael Bublè: A duet for Nick and Claudia Cutter_

_

* * *

One Year Later:_

Nick Cutter carried Claudia through the door of his house, being careful not to trip on her long wedding dress. She looked up at him and gave him a smile that lit up the whole blue sky.

_"I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles,  
And the heavens open up every time she smiles.  
And when I come to her, that is where I belong,  
Yet I'm running to her like a river's song.  
_

Nick loved it when she smiled at him like that. She lit up his life, his entire world. Here, in his arms, Claudia knew she was where she belonged._  
_

_She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love,  
He gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love.  
_

Nick set his bride down, never looking away from her eyes. Two years ago he never would've imagined ever seeing her again, but yet here he was, with Claudia as his bride! He started thinking about where he would've been if he had never found her. He still would be the bitter, lonely man that he had been since she disappeared. Claudia saw that look in his eye and immediately chided him.

"Nick, no thoughts like that now, you found me, we're both alive and healthy, and everything's going to be all right. Now come on, we're supposed to be getting ready for our honeymoon. The cab will be here any minute to take us to the airport."

Nick laughed. She bashed away any sad feelings he had harbored with just a few simple words. Nick envisioned the life they would share together. No matter what his day was like, he would come home and Claudia would always be there to cheer him up.

_She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down,  
And when I come to her when the sun goes down.  
She takes away my trouble, takes away my grief,  
Mmm, takes away all my heartache in the night like a thief.  
_

Claudia smiled at him and waltzed away to get into her travel clothes and to grab her suitcases. Nick watched her go, unable to move his feet. He was so in love. He felt like singing.

_She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love,  
He gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love.  
_

Claudia peeked through the doorway at him and laughed. "Come on, Nick." He was finally able to move his feet again. At least he wouldn't be tripping over an excited puppy, even though she had grown so much in the last year. Sandy had already been picked up by Abby Temple, promising she would have a great time at the their flat playing with Rex, Sid and Nancy. He walked into his room and changed, still in a daze.

_She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love,  
He gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love._

Claudia dragged her suitcases out and set them by the door, followed by Nick doing the same. They both sat on the couch, waiting for the taxi. "That was a wonderful wedding, wasn't it?"

"Mmhm." was all Nick could reply.

The wedding was simply beautiful. They had been married in a church, just like Claudia wanted. Her bridesmaids were Jenny Lewis, Abby Temple, Sarah Becker, Julia Ryan and Stephen's girlfriend, Melissa Marden. She was a small but very talkative girl with medium-length blond hair, who Stephen just adored. She had helped him make the final step of healing and finally moving forward. They met when Melissa had joined the ARC team a few months before. Her skills as a medic in exotic cases were invaluable. She and Stephen had both moved over to Team B to even out the numbers.

Nick's groomsmen were Danny Quinn, Connor Temple, Alex Becker, Tom Ryan and Stephen Hart. It had been hard to find a bridesmaids' gown to fit Abby, as she was now six months pregnant. Their baby shower had been two weeks ago, and Abby and Connor had asked Nick if they could name their baby Nicholas, to which he agreed. There had been non-stop activity going on lately at the ARC. Becker and Sarah had eloped quietly last month to Egypt for a small private ceremony, while Danny and Jenny had just announced their engagement last week.

_Yes, I need her in the daytime,  
Oh, but I need her in the night.  
Yes I want to throw my arms around her,  
Kiss an' hug, kiss an' hug her tight.  
_

Claudia snuggled up closer to Nick, feeling the warmth of his broad chest filling her tiny frame. Nick sighed, cherishing the bond that they shared.

_And when I'm returning from so far away,  
She gives me some sweet lovin', brighten up my day.  
Yes, she makes me righteous, makes me feel whole,  
And makes me mellow down into my soul!  
_

Finally, they heard a horn that signaled their cab had arrived. Nick stood up, then turned around and picked Claudia up and set her on her feet. He looked deep into her chocolate brown eyes, while she gazed into his ice blue.

"I love you, Claudia Cutter." He said to her.

"I love you, Nick Cutter." Nick smiled.

"Y'now, as much as I liked calling you 'Claudia Brown', I like saying 'Claudia Cutter' much, much more." He was glad Claudia had changed out of her wedding dress and into jeans and a t-shirt. He picked her up and carried her out to the cab, her joyful laughter echoing the entire way.

_She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love,  
He gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love._

_

* * *

The next morning Claudia Cutter stood outside alone on the deck of their hotel room, watching the blue waves of the ocean crash onto the beach. The last traces of early-morning dawn still lingered orange and purple in the sky, and she shivered in her silk white nightgown as a cool tropical breeze swept slowly past her. As if on cue she felt a presence behind her wrap his arms around her waist. She smiled as she felt Nick fingering the bottom of her loose fitting top. She leaned back onto his bare chest, sighing contentedly. She felt safe and secure. There was nowhere else in the entire world she wanted to be right now outside of Nick's embrace. Just as long as she had her Nick Cutter, she was happy._

_She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love,  
He gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love._

_Claudia turned around to face him and slowly, as if in a movie, both she and Nick leaned in and felt the sensation of all their joyful feelings combined into one passionate kiss. There they stayed, lips joined together, standing in the tropical sunshine, both without a care in the world._

_You give me love, love, love, love, crazy love,  
I need your love, love, love, love, crazy love._

_Crazy love,_

_Crazy love,_

_Crazy love. . ."_

_~Fine~_

_

* * *

_**A happy ending, for everyone, just how it should be! Want more "Click" fluff? A good sequel to this would be "Dreams" on my profile, although not nearly connected,it makes sense.** **I'm not sure if I'll write another sequel to this or not, if I would, it wouldn't be anytime soon, as I am working on a different Primeval fic right now. Some good possibilities for a sequel would be Abby and Connor's baby "Nicholas"(yes, the "quotations" are there for a reason!), Stephen/Melissa OOC Character Developments(for them both), Sarah's supposed "death" in the future(remember Claudia Becker in the future said her mother Sarah was killed by a raptor?), Jenny taking Danny to meet her family(and showing them the changes of her physical appearance), or of course more Nick and Claudia! :) Tell me your thoughts, and I'll take them into account! :) Thanks so much for reading this entire story, I had lots of fun writing and publishing it! God Bless!!**

_**~Katy :)**  
_


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